The Stepmother
by othfan80
Summary: Julian is in love with Brooke, but his fifteen year old daughter, Sam, wants him to be with Peyton. Can Julian and Brooke make it work? Can the three of them become a family? More info inside
1. Story Info

**Story Info:**

This is kind of complicated so I hope I explain it well enough. It's set during season six, but I'm changing a lot of the events of season six.

Julian is in Tree Hill producing a film based on _Ravens_. He's been dating Brooke for a week when this story begins. He asked her to design the wardrobe for _Ravens,_ and she accepted. They had a business meeting to discuss the details and then started dating. He and Peyton were in love in LA. Peyton is with Lucas. She's pregnant, but she's not showing yet and no one knows. Those are the details from season six that I'm not changing.

Sam is not Brooke's foster daughter. Brooke wasn't attacked in her store, and she didn't sign Clothes Over Bros over to Victoria. I don't know if they ever said how old Julian is in the show. For this story, he is older than Brooke, Peyton, Lucas, Nathan and Haley. They are all the same age they were in the show during season six, and Julian is thirty. When he was in high school, he got a girl pregnant. She didn't want to keep the baby, but he did. His daughter, Samantha Baker, is now fifteen. She is similar to the Sam in the show in some ways-she's sarcastic, rebellious, close to Julian, etc. But, she's obviously a little different from the Sam in the show because she didn't spend her childhood in foster homes. Julian is a really good dad, but Sam still has some abandonment issues because her mom never wanted her. If anything doesn't make sense, ask me and I can try to explain it better.

Summary:

Sam has always wanted a mom. Peyton is the closest thing she's ever had to a mom. They became close when Peyton was in love with Julian. Sam only wants one thing when she arrives in Tree Hill-for them to be a family together. She's not happy when she meets his new girlfriend, Brooke. I'm using the Parent Trap/Stepmom as the inspiration for the first few chapters. Basically, Sam tries to break Brooke and Julian up, and get Peyton and Julian back together. I thought it would be kind of funny to see Brooke's reaction to that. Eventually, Julian, Brooke and Sam will try to become a family. Can Sam accept Brooke as her stepmom?


	2. Chapter 1

Julian and Brooke had been together for a week. The week had been amazing, but it was drawing to a close. Julian was already falling for the designer. He knew he needed to tell her about his daughter, Sam. Sam had been at cheerleading camp for the last week, but she would be making an appearance in Tree Hill the next day.

"Did Peyton ever tell you about Sam?" Julian asked.

"No," Brooke replied. She looked at Julian curiously, waiting for an explanation.

"Sam's my daughter," Julian said. He wasn't one to beat around the bush.

Shock registered on Brooke's face. She had a hundred questions. Where was Sam? How old was Sam? Who was Sam's mother? She couldn't form words to ask any of the questions, though. She just stared at Julian open-mouthed.

Julian waited for Brooke to say something. When she didn't, he continued to explain. "When I was in high school, my girlfriend, Caitlin, got pregnant. We were fifteen."

"You were a mathlete in high school. You weren't popular. You were having sex at fifteen?" Brooke stammered incredulously.

"I was having sex with a mathlete," Julian explained.

"OK," Brooke said slowly, still trying to recover from the initial shock. "Is Sam with her mom?"

Julian shook his head. "I wanted to keep our baby. I already loved her. Caitlin didn't want her. Caitlin hasn't seen Sam since the day she was born."

"Where is she, Julian?" Brooke asked.

"She's been at cheerleading camp in California. She's going to be in Tree Hill until summer's over. She gets here tomorrow," Julian replied.

Brooke had finally processed the information and was back to her usual self. She raised her eyebrows and smirked. "The daughter of two mathletes is a cheerleader?"

Julian laughed. "That's all on Peyton. Sam looked up to her. She used to do her hair like Peyton and dress like Peyton."

"If she's anything like P Sawyer, I'm sure we'll get along great," Brooke said with a smile.

Julian looked surprised. "You want to meet her?"

"Well, yeah. I really like you," Brooke said.

Julian grinned. "I really like you, too." He kissed Brooke. "I'm picking her up from the airport tomorrow afternoon. Maybe we can go to dinner together?"

"I'd like that," Brooke said with a smile.

Julian parked his rental car outside the airport and waited for Sam. He lit up when he saw his daughter walking towards him. He got out and gave her a big hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Sam said.

Julian put Sam's suitcase in the trunk and they got in the car. "How was camp?" Julian asked.

"Fun. We placed second in the competition," Sam said proudly with a smile.

"We're going out to dinner tonight. There's someone I want you to meet," Julian said.

Sam looked surprised. She raised her eyebrows. "Someone like a girlfriend someone?"

Julian nodded. He studied his daughter's expression.

Sam's expression quickly went from shocked to angry. Julian had only ever introduced Sam to one girlfriend before-Peyton. Sam knew he had to be serious about his new girlfriend to introduce them. She wanted him to be with Peyton, though. Peyton was the closest thing she'd ever had to a mom. "I don't understand. You wanted to produce this movie so you could be with Peyton."

"You sound like Peyton," Julian said with a tinge of annoyance. Sam smiled at the comparison. "Why does everyone forget _I_ broke up with _her_?"

"You broke up with her because you were scared she still had feelings for her ex, not because you didn't love her! You moped around for a whole month after she left," Sam reminded him.

"She _did_ still have feelings for her ex. They're engaged," Julian said.

"I'm sorry," Sam said gently. She knew her dad had to be sad even though he was acting like it wasn't a big deal.

"I'm not. I think everything worked out the way it was supposed to," Julian said.

"No, it didn't! You're supposed to be with Peyton!" Sam cried out.

"Sam, I loved Peyton, but she wasn't the love of my life," Julian said.

Sam nodded, but she didn't look convinced. She had a stubborn streak. She'd given up on trying to reason with her dad. She was going to have to show him that Peyton was perfect for him. Her mind was racing a mile a minute as she came up with a plan.

Julian carried Sam's suitcase into the hotel. They waited in line in the lobby. Julian had requested an adjoining room for Sam. They just needed to check in and get the room key.

Sam unpacked. She had time to take a quick shower before dinner. She stared at the contents of her closet, looking for an outfit that would scare her dad's new girlfriend off. She decided on a black halter top with metal studs on it, one of her shortest denim miniskirts and black heels. She admired her reflection in the mirror. Surely this woman wouldn't want her for a stepdaughter.

Julian knocked on the door that connected his hotel room to his daughter's room. "Sammy, are you ready?" He called.

"Yeah." Sam opened the door. She smirked at the shocked look on Julian's face when he saw her outfit.

"Is it Halloween?" Julian asked.

Sam rolled her eyes. "It's not a costume. It's a new style."

"I don't like this new look," Julian commented.

"I'm not taking fashion advice from someone who carries a man bag," Sam retorted.

They drove to the café where they were meeting Brooke. Brooke was already waiting. She'd gotten a booth, but she stood up when she saw Julian. She was a little surprised by Sam's outfit. Brooke had been pretty slutty in high school and even she wouldn't have worn Sam's outfit.

Brooke kissed Julian. Sam scowled as she watched her dad make out with his new girlfriend.

Julian glanced back and forth between Brooke and Sam. He looked a little nervous. "Brooke, this is Sam." He wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulders as he introduced her.

"Hi Sam. It's nice to finally meet you," Brooke said with a smile.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Finally? How long have you guys known each other again? A whole week?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Sam," Julian warned with a stern expression.

"I've heard so much about you," Brooke tried again.

"Really? The first I heard about you was today," Sam said with a smirk.

"Samantha!" Julian scolded.

"What?" Sam asked innocently. "It's true."

They sat down. Sam slipped into the seat beside Julian before Brooke could, so Brooke sat opposite them.

"So Sam, you're a cheerleader?" Brooke said.

"No, I was just at cheerleading camp for the hell of it," Sam said sarcastically.

"I was a cheerleader in high school," Brooke said with a weak smile. This wasn't going well at all.

"So was Peyton. That's my dad's old girlfriend," Sam said with a smirk.

"Sam, Peyton is Brooke's best friend," Julian said.

Brooke couldn't help but smirk at the look of surprise on Sam's face. Sam recovered quickly and the smirk returned to her face. "You couldn't have Peyton so you moved on to the next best thing?" Sam asked Julian.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Julian said sternly. Sam followed Julian outside. They stood in front of the café glaring at each other. "Sam, what do you think you're doing?" Julian finally asked.

"You're just mad because everything I said was true! You're still in love with Peyton! You're dating her best friend!" Sam yelled.

"No, I'm mad because you're being really rude. And for the record, I'm not in love with Peyton. I'm falling for Brooke," Julian shot back. He didn't think before he spoke. He looked almost as stunned as his daughter at the words that just came out of his mouth. He was falling in love with Brooke Davis.

Sam felt tears welling up in her eyes. She turned away from her dad and took off. Julian didn't try to stop her. He knew she needed time to cool off.

Julian returned to the café alone. "I'm sorry," he said.

"It's OK," Brooke said quietly. "Where's Sam?"

"She left," Julian replied.

"Do you want to go look for her?" Brooke asked, her voice laced with concern.

Julian shook his head. "No. She has a bad temper. She needs some time to cool off."

"She's Team Peyton," Brooke said. Her tone was light, but Julian saw a flicker of pain in her eyes.

"Brooke, Peyton's the only girlfriend I've ever introduced to Sam. Sam needs stability. I didn't want a constant stream of girls coming in and out of her life," Julian said.

Brooke looked surprised. "Why did you introduce me to her?"

Julian looked into Brooke's eyes. "Because I really like you."

"Why?" Brooke asked. She couldn't help but wonder if Sam had been right and Julian was only with her because he couldn't have Peyton. Brooke always struggled with not feeling good enough. Peyton was an especially sore spot because she'd won the battle for Lucas' heart not once, but twice. Maybe Peyton still held the key to Julian's heart as well.

"Because you're kind and good. You always put others first, even at your own expense. You would do anything for the people you care about. I'm lucky to be one of those people," Julian said sincerely.

Brooke lit up at Julian's response. He'd succeeded in reassuring her that she wasn't the next best thing, at least not as far as he was concerned. "Have I told you lately how much I like you?" She asked with a flirtatious smile.

Sam didn't know where she was going. She didn't know her way around town, and she didn't know anyone in Tree Hill. She just had to get out of there. She took off, walking as briskly as she could while wearing high heels.

Sam wound up at the river court. A boy who looked like he was about her age was shooting hoops.

"Can I play?" Sam asked.

The boy looked up in surprise. He was really good looking. He was tall with an athletic build and dirty blonde hair. He studied Sam. "You want to play in that?" He asked as he took in her outfit.

Sam blushed a little. She'd completely forgotten how she was dressed. The outfit had been for Brooke's benefit. Unfortunately, it hadn't had the desired effect and now Sam looked like a total slut in front of a really hot guy. "Never mind." She was about to leave when he stopped her.

"Hey, wait. Look, I'm sorry," he said. He threw the ball to Sam.

They played Make It Take It, or at least they were going to play Make It Take It. Sam was so bad that he took pity on her when the score was twelve to zero.

"You try playing in heels," Sam said defensively.

He laughed. "No thanks." He walked to his Jeep and then noticed it was the only car. "You want a ride?"

"My parents said I shouldn't get in the car with strangers," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'm Sean," he said.

"I'm Sam," Sam replied.

"We're not strangers anymore," Sean said.

"I don't know you," Sam said hesitantly.

"What else do you want to know?" Sean asked.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Are you a serial killer?"

Sean shook his head. "No."

"That's good enough for me," Sam said. Sean opened the passenger door for her before getting in the driver's seat.

"Is that Mest? I love them!" Sam said when she heard the mix playing on Sean's iPod. She broke into a smile.

Sean smiled a little. Sam gave him directions. His forehead wrinkled in confusion when she told him to turn in to the hotel parking lot. "You live in a hotel?"

"I don't live here. We're just staying here while my dad produces a movie. It's being filmed in Tree Hill. Then we're going back to LA," Sam explained.

"Give me your phone," Sean said. Sam obliged. He entered his number in and then handed it back to her. "Now you have my number. Call if you want me to show you around."

Julian heard Sam moving around in her room and knocked on the adjoining door. Sam opened it. Julian sat down in the desk chair and Sam sat down on the bed. He faced his daughter. "I wanted you to meet Brooke because she's important to me. You're the two most important people in my life. I wanted you to like each other, but you didn't even give her a chance, Sammy."

"We're the two most important people in your life? I'm your daughter! You've only known her for a week!" Sam said incredulously.

"I know her," Julian said.

"OK. For argument's sake, let's say you know her and you're falling for her. It's the first time I've seen you in over a week. I missed you. I wanted to spend time with you. You invited Brooke to dinner without even asking me," Sam said with a hint of anger.

"Sorry," Julian said.

"I'm sorry, too," Sam mumbled.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. You owe Brooke an apology," Julian said.

"I'm NOT apologizing to her!" Sam cried out.

"I wasn't asking, Samantha," Julian said sternly.

"Fine," Sam muttered.

Julian hugged Sam. "I love you. Good night."

"Love you, too," Sam said.


	3. Chapter 2

Brooke walked into Lucas' house looking for Peyton. Peyton was sitting at the breakfast table eating and flipping through B Davis Magazine.

"Hey P Sawyer. Can I talk to you?" Brooke said.

"That's what I'm here for," Peyton said with a smile.

Brooke sank down into the chair opposite Peyton. "I met Sam last night," she muttered.

Peyton lit up. "Oh, I didn't know she was in town. I love that girl!"

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Are we talking about the same girl?"

"Uh-oh. What happened?" Peyton asked.

"Does she always dress like a gothic hooker?" Brooke wondered.

Peyton laughed aloud at the description. "No!"

"I tried everything. I was nice. I told her I used to be a cheerleader. Nothing. How did you talk to her?" Brooke said with a hint of desperation.

"I don't know. I just talked to her. Maybe she was just having a bad day," Peyton said.

"Or she just hates me," Brooke muttered.

Sam came up with a plan to hook Peyton and her dad up. Phase one of the plan was calling her grandfather. "Samantha! To what do I owe this pleasure?" His voice boomed out.

"Hi Granddad," Sam said sweetly. Her grandfather and her dad didn't get along, but both men absolutely adored her. She knew they would do anything for her, and she was planning on taking advantage of that. "I need a favor."

"Anything."

Sam smiled. "I need you to get the author of _Ravens_ in LA."

"Why?"

"He's engaged to Peyton," Sam said simply.

"I always liked Peyton. I never understood why Julian broke up with her."

"He broke up with her because he was too stupid or too scared to lose her. He still loves her. I know he does. We can still be a family," Sam said confidently.

Phase two of the plan was a little bit harder. She needed a way to get Julian and Peyton some alone time. She knew neither of them was likely to agree to this part of her plan.

Sam needed some kind of an emergency. She knew Julian and Peyton would drop everything if they thought she was in danger. She was still trying to think of the perfect emergency when Julian knocked on the door. She opened it.

"You're not ready yet?" Julian asked when he saw that his daughter was still wearing pajamas. "I need to go over to Tric. We're holding auditions there. Brooke's going to meet us for lunch. You can talk to her."

Sam sighed. "I'll meet you there. I need to finish getting ready."

Sam took her time looking for the perfect outfit to scare Brooke away. She chose a low-cut purple silk tank top that looked more like lingerie than a shirt, a short black miniskirt and black heels. She frowned as she studied her reflection. She'd looked scarier the night before and it hadn't gotten rid of Brooke. She didn't have anything better, or should she say worse, than this though.

Peyton and Brooke were sitting on a couch in Tric talking when Sam walked in. Peyton saw her first and stared open-mouthed. "I can see what you mean about Sam dressing like a hooker."

Brooke followed Peyton's gaze. "This is a step up from what she was wearing last night."

Peyton didn't hear Brooke's comment. She was already on her feet storming over to Sam. "Samantha Baker!"

Sam looked up in surprise when she heard her name. She lit up when she saw Peyton. "Peyton!" She ran to Peyton and gave her a big hug.

Peyton wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders and led her back to the recording studio. She wanted to talk to Sam alone. Sam looked around with interest. "Is this your studio?" Peyton nodded. "It's so cool!"

"What is this?" Peyton asked, pointing to Sam's outfit. "Why are you dressed like a hooker?"

Sam tried not to smile at the description. "You could just say you don't like it," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I don't like it!" Peyton said emphatically.

"My dad doesn't like it either. You guys have so much in common," Sam said.

"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work," Peyton retorted. She looked into Sam's eyes. "Sweetie, you know I'm always here for you even though your dad and I aren't together."

"OK," Sam mumbled.

"Are you going to give Brooke a chance?" Peyton asked.

Sam stared at the floor. "Yeah."

"She's my best friend. She's pretty great, you know," Peyton said with a smile. Sam didn't act convinced so Peyton tried another tactic. "I'm going to have to kick your skinny ass if you don't take it easy on her."

"'Cause you're so scary," Sam said sarcastically. She smirked.

Sam was dreading talking to Brooke, but she knew she had to. She approached Brooke. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked quietly.

Brooke looked surprised, but she nodded. She moved over so Sam could sit beside her on the couch. Sam stared at the floor. "Look, I'm sorry." She didn't look one bit sorry.

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "For what?" It was painfully obvious that Sam was only apologizing because Julian told her to. Brooke would have accepted a sincere apology, but she wasn't going to make it easy on Sam if the teen was still out for blood. She wanted to make it clear that she wasn't going anywhere.

Sam glared at Brooke. "For being rude."

"Sam, I really like your dad, and I know how much you mean to him. I'm trying here, but you need to try, too," Brooke said.

"There are my girls. Are you guys ready to go to lunch?" Both Brooke and Sam forced smiles when they heard Julian. The poor guy grinned at the sight of his two favorite people pretending to get along for his sake. He had no idea his daughter was making it impossible for them to get along.

"Yeah," Brooke replied.

They went to lunch at a pizza parlor. Julian tried to engage Sam in the conversation, but she gave one-word answers to questions and otherwise avoided talking. She knew her dad would be angry if she was rude again, but she wasn't going to sit there and pretend she liked Brooke.

"Someone needs to put her in her place," Sam vented. She'd just told her version of the afternoon's events to Sean. Sean was showing her around, and he'd made the grave mistake of asking about her family. She'd depicted Brooke as this horrible person who was breaking up a happy family, which of course wasn't true.

"Evil stepmother," Sean agreed. His tone was light and the corners of his mouth tipped up.

Sam cringed. "Not if I can help it. I have a plan to hook Peyton and my dad up. Will you help me?"

"That depends." Sean regarded Sam with a smirk. "What's in it for me?"

Sam raised her eyebrows. "What do you want?"

"A date," Sean replied.

Sam pretended to consider even though she would have gone out with him in a second. He was really hot. "Deal." She held out her hand.

Sean stared at her hand. "Not how I would have chosen to seal the deal," he said before shaking her hand.

Sam began explaining her plan. The sooner she could get her dad away from Brooke and with Peyton the better. "I'm allergic to peanuts. I'm going to eat something with peanuts in it. I'm going to call Peyton and tell her I can't get a hold of my dad and I need to go to the hospital. Then my dad will come to the hospital and see her."

Sean's forehead wrinkled in concern and he frowned. "I don't know. We're not doing this if you could die."

"I know. That's why I have this." Sam pulled her EpiPen out of her purse and showed it to Sean. "I always have to carry an EpiPen with me." She lifted her skirt a little and showed him where to give her the injection if her allergic reaction was really bad.

They went into the drugstore and bought some candy. They walked to the river court and sat down on the picnic table. Both teens looked nervous as they opened the bag of candy. Sean had a bad feeling about this. Sam was nervous because she didn't want to blow her chance at hooking Peyton and her dad up. She popped a piece of candy in her mouth.

Sean watched Sam anxiously. He was beginning to think she wasn't going to have an allergic reaction at all when she started breathing heavily, almost as though she'd just run a marathon. Her face was flushed. Her movements were shaky as she reached for her cell phone and dialed Peyton.

"Hey girlie," Peyton's cheerful voice came over the phone.

"Peyton, I can't get a hold of my dad and I didn't know who else to call," Sam said. She was breathing so hard that Peyton could hear her short, desperate breaths over the phone.

"What's wrong?" Peyton asked, her voice laced with concern.

"I…I think I'm having an allergic reaction," Sam managed. She was having a hard time forming words. She could barely breathe and she could feel her tongue swelling up.

"Where are you?" Peyton asked.

"The river court," Sam replied. As soon as she hung up, Sean lifted her skirt and injected the medication into her thigh. He waited until he heard a car pull up and then took off per Sam's instructions. Sam didn't know that he lingered in the distance to make sure she was OK.

"Sam!" Peyton yelled when she saw the teen. Sam's face was red and her face was streaked with tears. Peyton helped Sam get in the Comet. She called Julian and told him to meet them at the hospital.

Julian rushed into the hospital. He saw Peyton arguing with a doctor and ran over to them.

"I can't treat a minor without consent from a parent or guardian," the doctor said calmly.

"You're going to treat her!" Peyton said angrily.

"I'm her father. What happened? Is Sam OK?" Julian said quickly.

"No, she's not OK, and this ass won't treat her!" Peyton yelled.

"It looks like she is having a severe reaction to an allergen. Her heart rate is higher than normal and she's experiencing shortness of breath. I have her lying down with her feet elevated. She needs epinephrine," the doctor explained.

"She's allergic to peanuts. She has an EpiPen. It's probably in her purse," Julian said.

"She used it already. It was on the picnic table," Peyton said.

The doctor nodded. "Sometimes you need a second injection or a higher dosage. Allergic reactions often increase in severity with additional exposures to the trigger."

Once Sam was stabilized, Peyton and Julian went into her room. They stood beside each other at her bedside. Julian held Sam's hand. Peyton brushed a lock of hair out of Sam's face.

Sam smiled at them. This was what she wanted. It felt like they were a real family.

"How are you feeling?" Julian asked.

"OK," Sam replied.

"If Peyton hadn't gotten you to the hospital…" Julian shook his head. He knew he could have lost his daughter. He was still on an emotional rollercoaster. He'd gone from sheer terror to relief in mere seconds.

"I did, and she's going to be OK," Peyton said with a smile.

Julian turned to Peyton and looked in her eyes. "Because of you. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I love her," Peyton said.

Julian grinned. "I think you always liked her more than you liked me."

Brooke rushed into the room out of breath. "I got your message. Is Sam-" Brooke stopped mid-sentence when she saw that Julian was with Peyton. This felt eerily familiar. She remembered all the times she'd found Lucas with Peyton in high school. "OK?" Brooke finished as three pairs of eyes focused on her.

"I should go," Peyton said quickly. She glanced back at Sam. "Let me know if you need anything."

Sam smiled and nodded.

Brooke took Peyton's place beside Julian and pulled him into a hug. Sam's smile faded. Why did Brooke have to show up and ruin everything?

Brooke volunteered to stay with Sam while Julian arranged for Sam to be discharged. As soon as he left, Brooke regarded the teen with suspicion. "Why were you with Peyton?"

"I wasn't. I called her," Sam said.

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "You called Peyton instead of your dad?"

Sam looked away. "I tried him first, but he didn't answer."

Brooke and Sam stared at each other. The teen wasn't a good liar. Brooke reached for Sam's cell phone, which was sitting on the hospital bed beside the teen. Sam realized Brooke's intention and reached for her phone frantically, but she was too late.

Brooke looked at Sam's call log. It confirmed her suspicions. "You didn't call your dad."

"Look-"

"I'm not stupid. You wanted Peyton and your dad to be together and you lied to make sure you got what you wanted," Brooke said with a hint of anger.

"Sammy, is that true?" Julian asked. He'd returned just in time to hear the end of Brooke's rant. He'd been too intent on getting to the hospital and making sure Sam was OK to notice the fact that Sam had called Peyton instead of him. It hurt to know that he wasn't the first person she called when she needed help. He'd always been there for her. He knew it was probably part of some plan Sam had concocted to try to get him and Peyton together, but that didn't make it hurt any less. He couldn't believe Sam would do this.

Sam nodded sheepishly.

"Sam, you can't really believe that we'll get back together because you orchestrated this. You know Peyton is engaged, and I love Brooke," Julian said.

Brooke eyes widened when Julian said he loved her. It was the first time he'd said those words, and it scared her.

"Are you mad?" Sam asked.

"No, I'm disappointed," Julian replied.

Sam felt tears welling up in her eyes. Her dad had never been disappointed in her before. It was worse than anger. "I'm sorry." Unlike the apology she'd given Brooke, this apology was sincere.


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the reviews! :)**

A knock on Sam's hotel door woke her up. She groaned, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep, but dragged herself out of bed. She opened the door that adjoined her room to Julian's first, but Julian wasn't at the door. In fact, he wasn't even in his room.

Sam sighed. It wasn't like him to leave without saying anything to her. He was still angry. She hated it when he got mad at her. She loved her dad so much, and they'd always had a special bond. He rarely got mad at her, but when he did, he was really angry.

Another knock confirmed that the person who had the audacity to wake Sam up before noon was at the other door. Sam assumed it was the hotel maids and stormed over to the door ready to chew them out for waking her up. She was surprised when she opened the door and saw Sean standing there with a bouquet of flowers.

"Hey," Sam said with a smile.

"How are you feeling?" Sean asked. He handed her the flowers.

"Thanks," Sam said as she accepted them. She invited him in and they sat down on her bed. "I'm fine."

"I was scared when you couldn't breath," Sean admitted. "Are you sure you're OK?"

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"Good. Then we can go on that date you owe me tonight," Sean said with a smirk.

"My dad's barely speaking to me so it would be nice to hang out with someone who isn't pissed at me," Sam said.

"I guess that means your plan backfired," Sean said.

"That's an understatement," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm. "This date is going to have to be pretty good to cheer me up." She smiled to let him know she was kidding.

"Do you have a fake ID?" Sean asked.

Sam smirked. "Of course."

Sam received a text message from Sean telling her to meet him at an address. The address was a dive bar. Sean was waiting for Sam at the bar. He was wearing a plain black shirt and jeans that clung to his perfectly toned body in all the right places. Sam was wearing a white shirt, a black vest, dark wash jeans and Converse shoes. She pulled him into a hug and then sat down beside him. They ordered beers and then started playing pool.

Sam smirked when Sean put his arms around her and showed her how to hold the pool cue and aim it. She surprised him by calling a ball and which pocket she was aiming for and then shooting it expertly into the intended pocket.

"You know how to play," Sean said.

"I _was_ raised by a guy. I learned how to play pool and poker instead of how do hair and make-up," Sam said with a smirk.

Sean chuckled. "OK. What do you say we make this interesting?"

Sam raised her eyebrows. "How would we do that?"

They made a bet that whoever won chose their next activity. They'd been playing for about an hour, but they wouldn't finish their game.

"Samantha Baker!"

Sam would recognize that voice anywhere. She looked up and saw Peyton glaring at her. "Peyton! What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"Meeting one of the artists on my label. I would ask what you're doing here, but it's pretty obvious," Peyton said angrily, her eyes zeroing in on the beer in Sam's hands. "Where's your fake ID?"

Sam sighed and produced the ID she'd stolen from Brooke's purse earlier that day.

Peyton glanced at it and smirked. She knew firsthand how pissed off Brooke got when you stole things from her. "I'm going to talk to my artist. You're going to stay here and you _won't_ be drinking. I'll take you home after my meeting."

"OK," Sam mumbled.

Brooke and Julian were enjoying their first evening alone since Sam's arrival. They'd decided to stay in. They were sitting on her couch talking and drinking wine.

"Did you mean what you said to Sam yesterday in the hospital?" Brooke asked. Her eyes were filled with fear. She needed to know the answer, but at the same time she was dreading hearing it. It was hard for her to open her heart to people. She'd been hurt too many times.

Julian looked into Brooke's eyes. She didn't need to explain. He knew what she wanted to know. "Yes. I love you, Brooke Davis."

"Julian, it's only been two weeks!" Brooke cried out. She saw a flicker of pain in Julian's eyes. She didn't want to hurt him, but she had to protect herself from getting hurt.

"I know and it's OK if you can't say it back," Julian said. His voice was laced with pain.

Brooke took Julian's hands. "You're a great guy, and a great boyfriend. I really like you." She leaned in and kissed him. They started making out on the couch. They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Brooke adjusted her top and ran a hand through her tousled hair before answering the door. Julian appeared behind her, scrambling to button his shirt.

"OK, this is awkward," Peyton said. She looked at Brooke. "I have something that belongs to you." She handed Brooke's ID over and then shifted her gaze to Julian. "And something that belongs to you." She grabbed Sam's arm and pulled the teen into Julian's line of vision.

Brooke stared at Sam with a look of fury on her face. "Unbelievable!"

"Stealing and drinking, Sam. Really?" Julian said. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. The disappointment in his tone made Sam feel worse than screaming would have.

"I'm gonna go," Peyton said. She pulled Sam in for a hug before leaving.

Julian apologized to Brooke and took Sam back to the hotel. He needed to talk to his daughter alone. "What's going on with you?" He asked.

Sam shrugged. "I just wanted to have a little fun."

"I don't just mean the drinking. Stealing, sneaking around, lying. You've never lied to me before, and you lied to my face. I can't trust you anymore," Julian said. His eyes were filled with sadness and disappointment.

"I know. It was stupid. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Sam said. Her voice was thick with tears.

"You're going to apologize to Brooke and work in her store tomorrow to make up for stealing her ID," Julian said sternly.

Sam hated the idea of being at Brooke's mercy for the day, but she knew arguing would make her dad even angrier so she nodded. "OK."

**Stagediva23-I know where California Girls is going, but I haven't felt like writing it. If I write when I'm not in the mood, it won't be very good. If you want sto be spoiled, keep reading. **

**Sam is going to stay out all night with Michael. Victoria and Brooke are going to freak out. **


	5. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews! :) I'm not happy with this chapter. The next chapter should be good, though. A visitor is going to show up and stir things up.**

"Sam." Julian had been knocking on the door that adjoined his room to Sam's room long enough that his knuckles were starting to hurt. "Sam! SAM!"

Sam groaned. She was never a morning person, but this morning more than ever she really wanted to stay in bed. She reluctantly got out of bed and opened the door.

"Hey. Get ready. We're leaving in an hour. I'll drop you off at Brooke's store and then I'm going to Tric," Julian said.

"OK," Sam replied.

Julian was unusually quiet on the way to Clothes Over Bros. Sam knew he was still mad. She'd already apologized. She didn't know what else she could do.

Sam noticed a café next to Clothes Over Bros and decided to take a detour. She had a feeling she would need caffeine to get through the day.

"Where are you going?" Julian's voice stopped her. He'd been waiting to make sure she actually made it into Brooke's store. He'd never had to check up on his daughter before. She'd always been a good kid, but he didn't trust this new version of his daughter.

Sam sighed. "I was just going to get coffee."

"It would be nice if you got Brooke a coffee, too," Julian said. Sam nodded. "She drinks non-fat lattes."

Sam went into the café. She got herself a coffee and got a latte for Brooke. She intentionally left out non-fat when she ordered.

Brooke was sitting at her desk sketching when Sam walked into Clothes Over Bros. Sam approached her and offered her the latte. Brooke stared at her with raised eyebrows. "You brought me coffee?" Sam nodded. Brooke's eyebrows arched even higher. She eyed the cup warily. "Did you poison it?"

Sam tried not to smile, but the corners of her mouth tipped up a little bit. "Nah. It'd be too easy to trace it back to me."

"Thanks, Sam. You're still working here today, though," Brooke said firmly.

Sam nodded. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Well, there's a new shipment in the back. You can start by pricing items and putting sensors on them," Brooke said.

Sam surprised Brooke by working hard. Millicent and Sam were both working on boxes, and Sam actually finished hers first. Of course that might be because Millicent and Brooke were talking about Mouth, and Sam was working in silence. When Sam finished her box, she started helping Millicent without having to be told what to do.

"Isn't Mouth supposed to get here soon?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah," Millie replied.

"Go," Brooke said.

"Are you sure you don't need me this afternoon?" Millie asked. She glanced nervously at Sam. The tension between Brooke and Sam was evident. "I can't leave you…"

"I can handle it. You haven't seen Mouth in almost a month. Now go before I fire you," Brooke said with a smile.

Millicent left, and the store was filled with silence. Sam only broke the silence to ask where to put all the clothes now that they were priced and had sensors on them. Brooke told her to hang them on a rack in the front of the store.

Sean was walking by the store when he saw Sam through the window. He walked in. "Hey."

"Hey," Sam replied. She blushed a little. "Sorry about last night."

"That's OK, but you do owe me another date since that one ended early," Sean said.

"OK, but I was winning last night so I get to choose what we do," Sam said with a smirk.

Sam was still smiling after Sean left.

"Who's the boy?" Brooke asked.

Sam's smile vanished. "No one."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Well, does no one have a name?"

"Look, I'm here to work, not to bond with you. No talking," Sam said with a tinge of annoyance.

"Fine," Brooke muttered.

They went back to working in silence. A while later Peyton came in. She looked surprised to see Sam. "What is this? Are Brooke Davis and Sam Baker actually in the same room? Did I miss something?" Both Brooke and Sam glared at Peyton in response.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"Trying on my wedding dress," Peyton replied.

Sam's face fell. She knew Peyton was engaged, but engagements ended all the time. Peyton was actually planning a wedding. That made it seem more real. Couldn't she see that she was marrying the wrong guy? Julian and Peyton had been good together.

The wedding dress Brooke had hand-stitched fit Peyton perfectly. Brooke studied the dress with a critical eye, looking for any imperfection. Peyton smiled as she admired her reflection in the mirror. "Oh, Brooke, it's beautiful." Peyton turned. "Sam, what do you think?"

Seeing Peyton in the wedding dress she would wear while marrying Lucas was really hard for Sam, but she forced herself to smile. She couldn't meet Peyton's gaze, though. "You look really good."

"Hey, are you OK?" Peyton asked, her voice laced with concern.

Sam wasn't really OK. She'd been holding onto hope that they could be a family, and that hope had just been shattered. "Yeah," Sam lied. Disappointment was evident in her voice.

When Brooke let Sam go, she sent Sean a text message to meet her at her hotel and to bring a swimsuit.

"You just wanted to see me without a shirt," Sean said with a smirk.

"Yeah," Sam said with a smile. "And the hotel has a hot tub."

They went to the pool. Sean took off his shirt. He had a six-pack from working out for basketball and a golden tan from the beach. He was wearing black swim trunks. Sam took off her white tank top and jean skirt. Underneath she was wearing a red bikini.

Before Sam could get in the hot tub, Sean picked her up. She followed his gaze to the pool and realized his intention. "Sean," Sam said in a warning tone.

Sean only smirked as he threw her into the pool. The water wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either.

Sam glared at Sean and splashed him with the cool pool water.

"Sorry," Sean said. The smirk on his face told Sam he wasn't sorry at all. He offered Sam his hand to pull her out of the pool. She accepted it, but continued glaring at him.

They got in the hot tub. The water wasn't the only thing that was hot. They started getting pretty hot and heavy.

Brooke looked up from her desk and smiled when she saw Julian walk through the door. "Hey Boyfriend."

"Hey. Did Sam do OK?" Julian asked.

"Yeah, she did a good job," Brooke said.

Julian breathed a sigh of relief. "Where is Sam?"

"I let her go about an hour ago," Brooke replied.

"If you thought she was bad, my dad is coming to town, and he's ten times worse," Julian said.

"He wants Peyton to be his stepmother, too?" Brooke asked with a smirk.

"No. He's just a jerk. Mostly to me," Julian replied.

"Well, I can relate to having parents who don't think you're good enough," Brooke said.

"You're good enough for me," Julian said with a grin.

He kissed Brooke. Pretty soon they were making out. Brooke pulled back. "Julian, everyone can see us," she said, glancing meaningfully at the windows.

"We should go back to your place," Julian murmured.

Sean got out of the hot tub. He offered Sam his hand and helped her out of the hot tub. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"I'm hungry. We should go get dinner," Sean said.

They went to a restaurant on the riverfront.

"How are things with your dad?" Sean asked.

"Not so good. I apologized, but he's still mad. I don't know what else I can do," Sam replied with a hint of desperation.

"He'll get over it," Sean said.

Sam shook her head. "No, this is different. He said he can't trust me anymore. He's barely speaking to me. We've never fought like this before."

"Must be nice. My dad and I fight all the time," Sean said.

"What about your mom?" Sam asked.

"She tries, but she's sick. She has breast cancer. She doesn't even know half the stuff my dad does. He's been even worse since she got sick," Sean replied.

"I'm sorry. Is she going to be OK?" Sam said, her voice laced with concern.

"No. The doctors say she only has a year," Sean said.

"I don't know what's worse. My mom leaving when I was born or your mom waiting sixteen years to leave," Sam said.

"At least my mom isn't leaving because she wants to," Sean said sympathetically.


	6. Chapter 5

First thing in the morning Julian and Lucas had a meeting with Julian's dad, Paul. They were waiting at a table. Julian was fidgeting anxiously. He didn't want to see his father. He never actually wanted to see his father. No matter how old Julian got, Paul always managed to make Julian feel about two feet tall.

Paul sat down across from Julian and Lucas. He didn't bother with pleasantries.

"OK, let's hear it. What was wrong with this director? Too short? Too tall?" Paul said sarcastically.

"Too idiot," Lucas retorted.

Julian shot Lucas a warning look and shook his head slightly. Lucas was only making things worse.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It's time for me to step in. I have sent you six directors. Pick one or I'm going to take that stupid hat off of Julian's head, put the names in and choose your director for you. Now if you don't like that idea, you have until tomorrow to decide," Paul said firmly. With that, he left Julian and Lucas to pick a director.

Peyton walked into Clothes Over Bros. She wanted to show Brooke her engagement ring. Even though she'd been engaged for a little while, Lucas had just given her the ring. Before she could say anything, Brooke zeroed in on the diamond.

"Oh my gosh! P Sawyer, let me see your ring!" Brooke squealed. She seized Peyton's left hand and admired the diamond. "Do you like it?"

Peyton hesitated. "Yeah."

Brooke noticed the moment's hesitation and raised her eyebrows. "But?"

Peyton sighed. "I always pictured him giving me Keith's ring."

"Honey, you have to tell him," Brooke said.

Brooke looked up when the door opened. "Can I help you?" She asked with a tinge of annoyance that their conversation had just been interrupted.

"Paul!" Peyton said cheerfully. She went to Paul and gave him a hug. "Hi! I was hoping I was gonna see you while you were in town!"

Paul gave Peyton a once-over when she released him. "Look at you. You look happy."

"I'm kind of having a good day," Peyton said with a smile. She held up her left hand, showing off her engagement ring.

Paul looked surprised, but recovered quickly. "Oh, not bad. Lucas has good taste in women and in jewelry. His taste in directors, however, is still in question."

"I'm staying out of that one," Peyton said quickly.

"That's probably a good idea," Paul said with a smile. "It's good to see you, Peyton. How long has it been?"

"Before Sundance," Peyton replied.

Paul shook his head as he remembered the break up that shook Julian to his core right before the premiere of his film at Sundance. "You know, my son has made quite a few mistakes in his life but letting you get away easily tops the list. To be honest, I'm not sure he's ever fully recovered."

Peyton's earlier ease and comfort evaporated. She glanced nervously at Brooke. "Oh, he has. Paul, this is Julian's girlfriend and my best friend, Brooke."

"Hi," Brooke said with a weak smile.

"Just the person I was looking for. I'd like you to come to dinner tonight," Paul said.

Brooke hesitated. Julian hadn't said anything about dinner. She wanted his dad to like her, though, so she couldn't say no. "That would be great."

"Good," Paul said with a smile. He turned back to Peyton. "Peyton, you wouldn't happen to know where my granddaughter is would you?"

Peyton chuckled. "Sam doesn't usually get out of bed before noon unless Julian forcibly removes her so I'm guessing she's still at the hotel."

The sound of knocking woke Sam up. She tried the door that adjoined her room to Julian's first, but he was long gone. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Paul. "Hi Granddad." She gave him a big hug.

"Sam, it's good to see you," Paul said with a smile.

"It's only been a few weeks," Sam said.

"That's a few weeks too long," Paul replied.

Sam got dressed, and they went to the café. Paul ordered lunch. Sam ordered breakfast and a coffee since she'd just woken up.

"I saw Peyton. She's wearing Lucas' engagement ring. She looked happy," Paul said.

Sam nodded. Her demeanor was defeated. "She already has her wedding dress, too. So much for her and Dad."

"What do you think of Brooke?" Paul asked.

Sam shrugged.

Brooke entered Tric looking for Julian. She spotted him talking to Lucas and stormed over. "Julian, why didn't you tell me we're having dinner with your dad tonight?" She demanded.

"Because I didn't know we were. Sam and I are having dinner with him. I didn't think you would want to come. My dad is a jerk," Julian said.

"Definitely a jerk," Lucas agreed.

"See? If Lucas is on my side, you know I'm right," Julian said.

Lucas nodded. He shrunk back when Brooke glared at him. "OK, I'm just gonna go over there." Lucas left Brooke and Julian alone.

"Well, your dad came into the store. He said he wanted me to come to dinner, and I said yes. Is everyone in your family Team Peyton?" Brooke muttered.

Julian winced. "Oh yeah, my dad likes Peyton. But, my mom never liked Peyton." He held up a finger for emphasis.

"Why can't she come to town?" Brooke muttered under her breath.

They went back to the hotel to pick Sam up for dinner. She wasn't in her hotel room so they sat down in Julian's room to wait. They started making out, but Brooke pulled away. "We shouldn't be doing this. Sam could walk in any minute."

"The risk of getting caught makes it more fun," Julian said with a smirk.

"Not when your fifteen year old daughter who hates me would be the one catching us," Brooke said.

"She doesn't hate you. She just likes Peyton better," Julian said with a hint of sarcasm.

"That makes me feel so much better," Brooke said sarcastically. She shoved Julian playfully.

"No fair. You know I like feisty," Julian said with a grin.

"You shouldn't compromise on the director," Brooke said.

"I don't really have a choice," Julian replied.

Brooke opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when they heard voices in Sam's room. "I guess Sam's here," Julian said. They knocked on the door that led to Sam's room.

Sam opened it. She was holding several shopping bags and Paul was standing behind her.

Julian glared at his father. "I'd appreciate it if you would talk to me before you buy the bookstore and record store out for Sam."

"I can't be nice to my granddaughter?" Paul asked.

"You can absolutely be nice to me," Sam said quickly. "You know what would be really nice?"

"What?" Paul asked with a smile.

"A car," Sam said. She looked at Paul with puppy dog eyes.

"You do have a birthday coming up," Paul said.

"Paul," Julian warned.

"We come bearing gifts so be nice," Sam said. She handed Julian a book he'd been wanting.

"I'm always nice. It's him you should be worried about," Julian retorted.

They went to a nice restaurant. Brooke and Julian sat next to each other in the two chairs against the wall, facing Sam and Paul. Brooke felt a little like she was facing a firing squad.

"Did you pick a director yet or is that too much to ask?" Paul asked.

"It's not tomorrow yet," Julian mumbled.

"You've always waited until the last minute," Paul said in a disapproving tone.

"No bashing Dad," Sam warned Paul.

"I'm just being honest. Your dad's always had a problem following through. It's just not that hard to pick a director. I've sent him six. Any one of them would do fine," Paul said in a condescending tone.

"When I make a movie, I set the bar high. I don't want a director that will do fine. I want the best director," Julian said.

Paul shook his head. "Don't be stupid. You're making an independent film, not a blockbuster."

Julian hung his head. He excused himself to get some air.

"Julian is _not _stupid," Brooke said defensively.

Sam stared at her with a shocked expression. No one ever had the guts to stand up to her grandfather. She would never admit it, but she was impressed.

Paul glared at Brooke. "How long have you known my son?"

"I haven't known him that long, but I _know_ him," Brooke said firmly. She stood up. "I'm going to go make sure Julian is OK."

Sam glared at Paul. "Nice," she muttered.

"I don't like Brooke," Paul said.

Brooke found Julian in front of the restaurant. She grabbed his hands. "Hey, are you OK?"

Julian looked up with a sheepish expression. "Sorry I left you."

"It's OK. I can relate to needing to get away from your parents. I left New York to get away from my mother," Brooke said.

"She can't be as bad as Paul," Julian said.

"Trust me, she's worse. She calls me stupid _and_ she's trying to take my company from me," Brooke muttered.

"We should probably go back in there before Paul promises Sam a Porsche," Julian said.

They returned to their table. They stood behind Sam and Paul, who were oblivious to their presence. Sam and Paul continued to talk.

"You just don't like her because she actually stood up to you," Sam said with a smirk.

Paul shook his head. "Peyton knows when to stay out of things that aren't her business, but that's not the only reason I don't like Brooke."

"Trust me, I like Peyton better, too," Sam said.

"Maybe I should find a new producer, one that can actually pick a director. If there's no movie, your dad will come back to LA and this fling will be over," Paul said.

"You can't do that!" Sam protested. "Dad's worked really hard on this movie. He believes in it."

"I thought you'd be happy. All of your friends are in LA, and Brooke isn't," Paul pointed out.

"Look, I don't want to move here or anything, but we'll go back to LA as soon as Dad wraps production. I know how much this movie means to him. You can't take it away from him," Sam begged.

Julian cleared his throat to make their presence known. He'd heard more than enough. He was pleasantly surprised that Sam took his side even though she didn't want him with Brooke, but he couldn't believe his dad.

Sam spun around in his chair. She cringed when she saw Julian and Brooke standing there. Her dad was already mad at her. She didn't know how much he'd heard, but she knew it would probably add to his anger.

Paul spun around. His expression was impassive when he saw Julian and Brooke.

"Sam, why don't you go wait in the car?" Julian asked. Sam nodded and accepted the car keys from him. Julian looked at Brooke. "You should go, too."

"I'm not leaving," Brooke said firmly.

Julian waited until Sam was out of earshot. "Brooke is not a fling. I'm in love with her. And-"

"She's not a good role model for Sam," Paul interrupted.

"You don't even know her. Instead of getting to know her, you've been talking business all night," Julian said defensively.

"You came to me for help producing _Ravens_, and you don't think I read it? You can't seriously believe the girl who slept with _every_ guy in the book is a good role model for Sam?" Paul demanded.

"Brooke's changed, and Sam and I are lucky to have her in our lives," Julian said with venom in his voice. He shook his head sadly. "Look, I know I'm nothing but a disappointment to you. I think I've handled everything with _Ravens_ like a professional, which is more than I can say for you. I can't believe you just said that to Sam. It was low, even for you, and you know it. If you don't watch it, I'm not going to trust you with Sam."

Julian and Brooke got in the car. Sam was sitting in the backseat. She swiped at her eyes when they got in the car, but it was obvious she'd been crying. Julian handed her a bag from the restaurant. "Chocolate cake."

Sam looked surprised. "You brought me dessert? You're not mad?"

"Peace offering. And no, I'm not angry. I'm proud of you. It would have been easy for you to tell Granddad that you wanted him to find a new producer. I know it was hard for you to do the right thing, but you did. You're a good kid, Sammy," Julian said.

"You're a good dad," Sam said with a smile.


	7. Chapter 6

Peyton and Brooke were sitting in Peyton's office at Tric talking.

"Did you talk to Lucas about the ring?" Brooke asked.

Peyton nodded and smiled as she held up her hand to show off her new and improved engagement ring. "Yeah."

"You never told me how Lucas proposed. Or gave you the ring. Is it still a proposal if you're already engaged?" Brooke said.

"He took me to the place where my car broke down when I was with Nathan. Lucas was working in Keith's shop. He came to tow the Comet. Nathan was supposed to come pick me up, but he didn't," Peyton said with a smile.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Typical. He was such a jerk."

"Yeah. He's changed so much since then," Peyton said.

Brooke nodded. "Now he's one of the best guys I know."

"What about Julian?" Peyton asked.

"I'm falling for him," Brooke said. Deep down she'd known she was falling for him the first time he told her he loved her, or rather after he'd told Sam in the hospital, but Brooke had been too scared to admit it.

"Then why don't you look happy B Davis?" Peyton asked.

Brooke sighed. "First of all, his daughter hates me. Second, his dad hates me even more than Sam, which I didn't think was possible. Third, he's going back to LA when he finishes the movie. I just don't know if this is going to work."

"What happened with Paul?" Peyton asked.

"He was really hard on Julian. He called Julian stupid in front of Sam," Brooke said.

Peyton nodded. "Paul's never exactly kept it a secret that Julian's a disappointment."

"Julian left, and I went out to make sure he was OK. We went back to the table and heard Paul and Sam talking. Paul said he should find a new producer and that if there was no movie, Julian would go back to LA and our _fling_ would be over," Brooke said with a hint of anger.

Peyton stared at Brook with wide eyes. "No!"

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Sam actually told him not to take the movie away from Julian."

"See, she doesn't hate you," Peyton said with a smile.

"I don't know about that," Brooke muttered.

As if on cue, Sam appeared in the doorway. She wanted to talk to Peyton. She froze when she saw Brooke. She turned around to leave, but not before Peyton spotted her.

"Sam! Where are you going?" Peyton called cheerfully.

Sam stood awkwardly in the doorway. "I didn't know you were busy."

"I'm my own boss and I just gave myself a break," Peyton said with a smile. She gestured for Sam to come in.

Sam inched closer to Peyton's desk. "Are you sure you're not busy?" She asked. She hoped Peyton would say yes.

"For you? No," Peyton replied.

Sam sighed. Resigned to her fate, she reluctantly sat down beside Brooke.

"Hi Sam," Brooke said.

Sam looked down. "Hey." She looked up and focused on Peyton. "Your birth mom had cancer, right?"

Peyton's smile faded. "Yeah."

"My friend's mom has breast cancer. She's going to die. I don't really know what I can say or do," Sam said.

"Just be there for her," Peyton said. She smiled gratefully at Brooke. Brooke had been there for her when her adoptive mom died and when her birth mom died. "Trust me, it helps."

"Him," Sam corrected automatically.

"Is this the boy that came into my store?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah," Sam mumbled.

"You like him, don't you?" Brooke asked with a knowing smile.

Sam blushed a little. "Yeah, I like him."

Peyton looked up in surprise. "Your dad's actually letting you date? I always thought he'd be one of those overprotective dads."

"Trust me, he is. He once told me I couldn't date until I was thirty," Sam said. Both Brooke and Peyton laughed.

"That's just because he cares about you. Larry was the same way. I remember when I was going out with Pete from Fall Out Boy. He came to pick me up in a limo, and my dad sent him away," Peyton said.

"You went out with Pete from Fall Out Boy?" Sam asked. Her tone was awed.

"Yeah. Everyone thought I was making it up." Peyton glared meaningfully at Brooke.

"That's not the point. The point is that it's not a bad thing to have a dad who worries," Brooke said.

"So how worried is Julian about your first boyfriend?" Peyton asked.

"He's not my first boyfriend," Sam corrected.

"Well, excuse me. How many boyfriends have you had?" Peyton teased.

"I haven't been counting," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm. Peyton stared at her. Sam smirked at Peyton's reaction. "He's my second boyfriend. I started going out with David right after you and Dad broke up. Dad acted like a crazy person. He was producing a film based on a book about a cop. He brought one of the guns home. It was just a prop, but he used it to try to scare David."

Both Peyton and Brooke laughed. "So I'm guessing you haven't introduced Julian to your new boyfriend?" Peyton said.

"You'd be guessing right," Sam replied.

"If I give you two backstage passes to the concert tonight, can I meet him?" Peyton asked.

"You kind of did," Sam said. Peyton stared at her. "At the bar."

"No. Sam, please tell me you don't like the guy you were drinking with," Peyton said.

"We weren't doing anything that bad! You totally drank when you were in high school!" Sam said defensively.

"My dad was never home. Your dad is, and he'll know if you come home drunk so don't even think about drinking again," Peyton said.

Sam rolled her eyes. "So are you going to give me backstage passes?"

Peyton handed Sam an envelope with two backstage passes in it. "Are you gonna bring your boyfriend?"

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Are you gonna be nice?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to make sure he knows that if he breaks your heart, I'll break his face. But don't worry, I don't have a gun," Peyton said.

Sam helped Peyton set up for the concert. Sean was meeting her there. He saw her talking to Peyton and went over to them.

"Hey," Sam said with a smile.

Sean pulled Sam in for a kiss.

"Peyton, this is Sean," Sam said. She looked up at Peyton with pleading eyes, hoping Peyton would be nice.

Sean nodded. "Hey. Thanks for the backstage passes."

"No problem," Peyton replied. "I gotta go. I'm crazy busy. You kids have fun, though."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief.

Sean and Sam sat down.

"I needed this, you know. My mom had a really bad day," Sean said.

Sam gave him a hug and rubbed his back comfortingly. "Is she getting worse?"

"No. She just has good days and bad days," Sean explained.

"I'm here if you need anything," Sam said.

"Can you invent a cure for cancer?" Sean said with a hint of sarcasm. "Sorry. Bad joke."

Sam found Peyton after the concert. "Thanks again for the backstage passes…and thanks for being nice to Sean."

"If you really want to thank me, be nice to Brooke," Peyton said.

"I am being nice. I was nice to her today, wasn't I?" Sam retorted.

"Sam, she thinks you hate her," Peyton said.

"I don't hate her. I just don't like her," Sam said.

"Why?" Peyton asked.

Sam stared at the floor. "I was pretty terrible to her. I'm pretty sure she's never going to like me. I don't really want my dad with someone who doesn't like me."

Sam knew her dad and Peyton couldn't be together. Seeing Peyton try on her wedding dress had destroyed the last shred of hope Sam had that she could somehow get her dad and Peyton back together. She wasn't happy about it, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

She'd also seen firsthand that Brooke genuinely cared about her dad. Brooke had proved that by standing up to Paul. Last night the resentment Sam had been feeling faded, leaving fear in its place.

Sam didn't know what she was more afraid of-her dad staying with Brooke or breaking up with Brooke. She'd seen her dad after he broke up with Peyton. He moped around for a whole month. Sam thought she'd never see him smile again. She never wanted to see him that upset again. She also didn't really want her dad to stay with someone who didn't like her. The tension between Brooke and Sam had already drastically altered the close relationship Sam and Julian once had. She'd disappointed her dad, and he didn't trust her anymore. Would they grow even further apart as Julian and Brooke got closer?

"Brooke is a forgiving person. Trust me, she's forgiven me for worse," Peyton said.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Did you try to break her and my dad up?" She said sarcastically with a smirk.

"No, but she broke up with Lucas twice because of me. They were together in high school, and Lucas and I snuck around behind her back," Peyton said.

Julian and Brooke were sitting on Brooke's couch.

"Julian, what are we doing?" Brooke asked.

"Foreplay, but we can skip to the main event if you want," Julian said with a smirk. He continued kissing her, but she pulled away.

"That's not what I meant. What happens when the movie's over?" Brooke said.

"Is this about what my dad said? Look, he's not firing me as producer," Julian said.

"Yeah, but eventually you're going to finish the movie and then you're going to go back to LA," Brooke pointed out.

"I've been thinking. I want you to come to LA with me," Julian said. He looked into Brooke's eyes hopefully.

"What? Julian, I can't just come to LA with you! My life is here," Brooke said.

Julian chuckled a little. "You can make a life in LA with me. I love you."

Brooke hesitated. Her eyes were filled with fear. She loved him, too, but she was scared to get hurt. She summoned all of her courage. "I love you, too, but I just don't know if this can work."

"Everyone thought I came here for the girl in the book, and they were right, but that girl is you. Not Peyton. I read the book, and I felt like I knew you. Then I got here, and I knew it was you. When it's right, you just know. It would be wrong to walk away from something that is so right because you don't know what's going to happen in the future," Julian said.

It was what she needed to hear. Brooke kissed Julian. Julian lifted her top. She unbuttoned his shirt in one swift movement and then reached for the button on his slacks. Brooke kissed a trail down his body. She teased him until he couldn't take it anymore.

The next morning Brooke couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. That was until Sam walked into Clothes Over Bros. Brooke raised her eyebrows at the teen.

Sam looked nervous. She stood in front of Brooke for several seconds before she gathered the courage to speak. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Brooke nodded for her to continue. "I owe you an apology."

"What did you do?" Brooke asked warily.

Sam smirked a little. "Relax. I didn't do anything new."

Brooke breathed a sigh of relief.

Sam looked into Brooke's eyes. "I'm sorry, Brooke."

Brooke studied Sam. Sam looked genuinely remorseful. Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Sam nodded. "I'm really sorry."

Brooke narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Did hell freeze over?"

Sam laughed a little. "No. I just figured out that you're good for my dad."

"Better late than never," Brooke said with a smirk.


	8. Chapter 7

It had been a week since Sam apologized to Brooke. Brooke had forgiven her. Sam had been nothing but nice since then, but she was still distant.

Julian, Brooke and Sam were eating breakfast at the café. Julian and Brooke watched with amused expressions as Sam poured a lot of sugar into her coffee.

"What are you doing today, Sam?" Brooke asked.

Sam shrugged.

Brooke smiled. "Do you want to help me at the store?"

"I'd love to. I've been hoping you would ask me to slave away at your store," Sam said sarcastically with a smirk. She'd helped Brooke out a few times while Millie was out of town visiting Mouth. She didn't mind. She didn't have anything else to do.

"You guys can come to Tric after you close, and we can go to dinner," Julian said.

Sam rang people up so Brooke could sketch at her desk without interruptions. During a rare moment with no customers, Peyton came in.

"Brooke, I have to tell you something," Peyton said.

"OK. What is it?" Brooke asked.

"I'm pregnant," Peyton said. She waited nervously for Brooke's reaction. She'd been putting off telling Brooke for as long as she possibly could. She knew she couldn't wait any longer. Lucas accidentally let it slip to Haley. Peyton didn't want Brooke to hear through the grapevine. She didn't want to hurt Brooke.

Brooke's smile faded. She definitely didn't look happy. "What?"

Peyton sighed and spoke quickly. "I'm pregnant. Look, I know how badly you want a baby. And I know this has to be hard for you, but I want you to know you are going to be such a big part of this baby's life."

Brooke shook her head. "That's not why I'm upset. I spend seventy-two hours hand-stitching your wedding dress. It fit perfectly."

Peyton breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled a little. "_You_ just have to let the dress out. _I_ have to have a redneck wedding." Her lips formed into a pout.

Sam stood frozen in place behind the register. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She was too shocked to do anything but stare.

It's not that Sam thought Peyton would never have a child of her own. It's just that she never imagined it would happen so soon. Peyton wasn't even married yet.

Sam knew it was none of her business that Peyton was pregnant. Peyton had been like a mom to Sam once, but she wasn't with Julian anymore. As much as Sam had wanted Peyton to be her stepmother officially, she knew it would never happen. She couldn't explain why it hurt so much to know that Peyton was having a baby. She just knew that it did. It almost felt like Peyton had chosen another child over Sam. Sam hadn't been good enough for her real mom, and she wasn't good enough for Peyton.

Sam felt Peyton's gaze on her and knew she had to say something. She tried unsuccessfully to force her mouth into a smile, and instead ended up grimacing. "Congratulations." She finally managed.

Sam was unusually quiet after Peyton left. She never opened up to Brooke, but she usually made an occasional sarcastic comment. The radio silence was weird, and it didn't go unnoticed by Brooke.

"Are you OK?" Brooke asked.

"I'm fine," Sam replied.

Brooke knew she couldn't force Sam to talk to her. She sighed. "Fine. I'm going to close. You can go to Tric. I'll meet you there."

Julian heard someone approaching and looked up from the paperwork he'd been working on. He stared at the figure in the doorway with a shocked expression.

"Don't look so surprised to see me, Julian. _You_ came to North Carolina. You know I live here," Caitlin said in an accusatory tone.

Julian sighed. Everyone in Tree Hill thought he came to town for Peyton, and now Caitlin thought he came for her. It was ironic since the only girl he had feelings for was Brooke. "I'm producing a movie here. I didn't come for you."

"You expect me to believe it's a coincidence that you're producing a movie in North Carolina?" Caitlin said incredulously.

"The movie is based on a book that's set in Tree Hill," Julian pointed out.

"Is she here?" Caitlin asked.

"Why?" Julian asked.

"Because I don't want her here," Caitlin hissed.

Sam walked into Tric. She saw her dad talking to a woman and lingered in the doorway. She didn't want to walk in on a business meeting.

"Yes, you made that clear when you wanted to get an abortion," Julian said with a hint of anger.

"So what? I didn't want to be pregnant at fifteen! I didn't want one mistake to ruin my life! I didn't want a kid then, and I don't want one now. You know that I don't want to be in her life. I can't believe you brought her here!" Caitlin yelled.

"She doesn't know you're here. She doesn't even know you're her mom," Julian said.

"You better make damn sure it stays that way!" Caitlin spat out.

"What are you doing?"

Sam reluctantly turned her attention from the conversation she'd been listening to intently when she heard Brooke's voice.

Brooke saw tears in Sam's eyes. "What's wrong?" She asked, her voice laced with concern.

What was wrong? Sam's real mom wanted to abort her. Her dad had never shared that little tidbit with her. She knew her mom never wanted her. She'd just always thought that her mom didn't want to be in her life. Now she knew her mom didn't want her on the planet. She didn't want Brooke to know that, though, so she kept her mouth clamped shut.

"Sam?" Brooke said. She moved closer to Sam.

"Don't. Just don't," Sam said, her voice thick with tears. She shook her head. She walked past Brooke and disappeared out the door. Brooke stared at Sam's retreating form in shock.

Brooke walked into the room where Julian and Caitlin were arguing. She didn't need to know who Caitlin was or what was going on to pick up on the tense atmosphere. "Excuse me. Julian, can I borrow you for a minute?"

"Brooke, is Sam with you? Can you guys wait for me at the café?" Julian asked with a sense of urgency. The only thought in Julian's mind was that Brooke had to get Sam out of there before it was too late. He didn't know it was already too late.

"Actually Sam just left. She was really upset," Brooke said.

"How long has she been here?" Julian asked.

"I don't know. She came here while I closed. I just got here," Brooke said. She sighed. "Peyton's pregnant. I think Sam's having a hard time with it."

The color drained from Julian's face. He shook his head. "That's not why she's upset." He instantly knew why Sam was upset. He also knew he wouldn't be able to fix the damage Caitlin had done. Sam would carry what she'd heard around with her forever.

"Sam's not…" Caitlin couldn't bring herself to call the illegitimate child her daughter.

"Our daughter," Julian finished for her with a nod. Brooke gasped in shock as she realized who Caitlin was.

"Do you think she knows?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah," Julian said in a defeated tone. He'd never wanted his daughter to hear the terrible things Caitlin said.

Caitlin glared at him. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't brought her here-"

"My fault?" Julian repeated incredulously. "If you hadn't shown up-"

"You're so self-righteous! You couldn't admit we made a mistake fifteen years ago, and you can't admit you made one now!" Caitlin yelled.

"I used to think Sam would be better off if she had a mother, but today you proved me wrong," Julian said with venom in his voice.

"She'd be better off if you'd let me give her up for adoption! We'd all be better off! Caitlin spat out.

"Julian's a good dad," Brooke said defensively.

"No, I'm not. I knew you guys were coming after you closed the store. I'm a stupid dad. I can't believe she heard everything. She should never have heard any of those things. I have to find her," Julian said with desperation in his voice.

"I'll help you look," Brooke said.

Brooke and Julian started for the door, but Caitlin's voice stopped them.

"Julian, I don't want her to find me now that she knows who I am. I'm engaged. My fiancé doesn't even know I was pregnant at fifteen. I have a life, and there's no room in it for an illegitimate child." Her tone was pleading.

It took a lot to make Julian angry. He wasn't one to raise his voice or his fist. Sam had tried his patience on more than one occasion, and he'd never lost his temper. Now he felt an unleashed fury building up inside of him. He knew if he responded, he would say something he would regret. He chose not to dignify Caitlin's plea with a response. As he walked away, he hoped she would suffer worrying that Sam would find her.

Brooke and Julian checked the hotel first. Sam wasn't there.

"I'm going to look for her. Will you stay here in case she comes back?" Julian said.

Brooke nodded. "I'll call you if she shows up."

Sean opened the door to his house. "Hey. What's wrong?" He asked when he saw Sam. Her face was streaked with tears.

Sam launched herself into Sean's arms. She crushed her lips against his desperately.

Sean pulled away. "Sam?"

"I'm OK," Sam said.

She kissed him again. She started unbuttoning the black linen shirt she was wearing, revealing a black lace camisole.

"OK. Let's go up to my room," Sean said. He took Sam's hand and led her to his room.

Sam shut the door behind them. Sean lifted the camisole over her head. He ran his hands down her sides and they closed around her butt. They moved to bed in synchronized steps. They finished undressing. Sean lowered himself on top of Sam. Before she knew it, he was inside of her.

This was what Sam had wanted. She'd wanted to feel wanted. She'd wanted to be good enough. Even if it was only temporary. She realized too late that Sean couldn't fill the void her mom had left.

Sam thought she'd feel better after she was with Sean, but she didn't. She actually felt worse. She would never have thought that was possible.

It was almost midnight. Julian was still looking for Sam. Brooke was pacing in Sam's hotel room. She'd been walking back and forth for over an hour. She was surprised she hadn't worn a hole in the carpet.

Brooke had known Sam was upset. She shouldn't have let her leave. She felt like she'd failed. She'd failed Julian and Sam.

The door opened. Brooke's head snapped up. "Sam?"

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

Brooke breathed a sigh of relief. She was at Sam's side in seconds. She pulled the teen into a hug. Sam stiffened. "Brooke, don't." She'd been hurt by two mother figures that day-Peyton and her real mom. She wasn't going to let Brooke get close enough to hurt her. She didn't see the flicker of pain in Brooke's eyes when she spoke.

Brooke released Sam. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Sam said.

"I have to call your dad. He's been looking everywhere for you," Brooke said.

Sam waited for Brooke to make the call. She sat down on her bed with her arms crossed protectively in front of her. "You know everything." It was a statement, not a question.

Brooke nodded. She sat down beside Sam. "I know how it feels to be unwanted. A few weeks ago, my mom told me she never wanted me."

"A few hours ago, my mom said she wished I'd never been born. I win," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm. Beneath the sarcasm was bitterness.

Brooke fought the urge to comfort Sam. She knew from her failed attempt that Sam wouldn't let her.

Julian came into the room. "Sam, thank goodness you're OK." He gathered Sam in his arms. She clung to him, burying her head in his chest.

"I'm not OK." Sam's muffled response was so quiet Julian almost didn't hear it.

Her words pierced Julian's heart. He'd known she wouldn't be OK after what she'd heard. Still, hearing his little girl tell him she wasn't OK in a small, shaky voice killed him.

"You must have questions," Julian said. He wanted to do something for his daughter. He knew he couldn't take away her pain, but he hoped he could answer some of the questions Sam undoubtedly had.

"Did she ever even think about keeping me?" Sam asked.

Julian knew there was no way he could answer that question truthfully without adding to the pain, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. He'd never lied to his daughter, though, and he wasn't about to start now. He would not allow Caitlin to ruin his own relationship with Sam. "Sam…"

"I'll take that as a no," Sam muttered. The anger in her voice covered her sadness. "Why didn't she want me? Why wasn't I good enough?"

"Sammy, this was never about you. It's not that you weren't good enough. She doesn't even know you. This was always about Caitlin. We were fifteen. She didn't want a baby," Julian said.

"Why didn't she abort me then? I heard you say she wanted to," Sam said in a hollow voice filled with pain.

Julian sighed. He'd had no idea how much Sam had heard. He'd known any of the conversation would have been hurtful, but he'd hoped she hadn't heard that part. "I didn't want her to. I already loved you."

"You didn't let her?" Sam asked.

"If it had been up to me, no, I wouldn't have let her. But it wasn't up to me. We fought long and hard about it. We spent enough time fighting that by the time she finally went into the clinic, it was too late. Abortion wasn't an option anymore," Julian said.

"So the only reason I'm here is because she was a little too late?" Sam concluded.

"Lucky for me because I can't imagine my life without you in it. I love you so much, Sam," Julian said.

"I love you, too," Sam said.


	9. Chapter 8

About a month had gone by since Caitlin showed up out of the blue. Julian and Sam had moved into Brooke's house for the rest of the summer. Sam had been distant to everyone, even Julian, since Caitlin showed up. After the night she broke down in Julian's arms, she'd refused to talk about what had happened. She insisted she was fine. She was still being nice to Brooke, and she didn't even fight her dad on moving into Brooke's house.

Sam walked into Brooke's house. "Hey Dad. What are you cooking? It smells good." She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Julian's expression. She thought she'd seen all of his facial expressions, but she couldn't quite read this one. It was a mixture of shock and horror. "What's wrong? Did someone die?"

Julian turned to face Sam, and Sam noticed an underlying fury in his expression as well. "You're having sex." It was a statement, not a question. His tone held a surprising amount of disappointment and anger.

Sam just stared at him for several seconds. Eventually she tore her gaze from her dad and glanced down to see if she'd put her shirt on inside out or something. She couldn't figure out how he knew. "How did you know?"

"How could you do this? How could you get pregnant at fifteen?" Julian demanded. He shook his head sadly. "I wanted better for you."

Brooke walked into her house. She immediately realized she'd walked in on something. She didn't know what she'd walked in on, but the tension in the living room was evident.

Neither Julian nor Sam even noticed that they were no longer the only ones in the room. In fact, they didn't even look up when Brooke walked through the door. They were staring at each other. Julian looked like his whole world had just come crashing down around him, and in a way it had. His little girl wasn't a little girl anymore.

"I'm not pregnant!" Sam cried out.

"The pregnancy test says otherwise," Julian said in a disappointed tone.

Brooke's eyes widened in shock and horror. It was stupid to throw the test away where he could find it. This was not how she wanted to tell him, but she couldn't let him think the test belonged to Sam. She opened her mouth to speak, but it took several seconds before she was able to form words. "Julian, calm down."

"I'm NOT pregnant!" Sam screamed, as though the louder volume would somehow make her dad believe her.

"I am," Brooke said quietly.

Julian gave no indication that he'd heard Brooke. He continued his staredown with Sam. "You're lying to my face!" He accused. He very rarely raised his voice. His voice reached a volume neither Sam nor Brooke had ever heard before. A few seconds later he finally processed what Brooke had just said. He tore his gaze from his daughter and spun around to face Brooke. "What did you just say?"

"Sam's not lying. The test isn't hers. It's mine," Brooke said.

Julian glanced back and forth between Sam and Brooke. It almost looked like he was watching a fast-paced tennis match. He didn't know what to do. In the last ten minutes, everything had changed. His little girl was having sex. His girlfriend was pregnant. He was on emotional overload. He finally focused on Brooke. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I'm late. And the test was positive. I got a false positive when I was in high school, though, so I'm going to the doctor to find out for sure," Brooke replied.

"I'll go with you," Julian said.

Brooke smiled. She'd known he would be there for her. He was such a great dad. Suddenly she remembered Sam and her smile faded. She felt terrible that he'd yelled at Sam when Sam hadn't done anything wrong. She knew it was partially her fault. She should never have left the pregnancy test in the trashcan in the bathroom the three of them shared. "Sam, I owe you an apology. I'm so sorry your dad thought the test was yours."

"It's OK," Sam mumbled.

Julian's momentarily forgotten anger returned as he focused on Sam. "It's _not_ OK. You asked me how I knew."

"What?" Sam said.

"When I said you were having sex, you asked me how I knew. You didn't say you weren't having sex," Julian said.

Sam sighed. She knew he was right. She'd inadvertently admitted to having sex because she thought he knew.

"Who are you having sex with?" Julian demanded.

Pain filled Sam's eyes. She stared at Julian in disbelief. Did her dad think so little of her that he thought she would be having sex with someone she wasn't even dating? "Who do you think I'm having sex with?" She spat out.

"How would I know? I didn't even know you were having sex! You've only been here for five weeks! You don't know anyone well enough to have sex with them!" Julian yelled.

"I've only been here one week less than you, and apparently Brooke's pregnant!" Sam cried out.

"I'm not fifteen," Julian said with a hint of anger.

"You were totally having sex at fifteen! I'm living proof! You can't have one set of rules for yourself and another for me! You're being such a hypocrite!" Sam yelled. She walked past Julian toward her bedroom.

"Where are you going? This conversation is not over," Julian said sternly. He followed in Sam's footsteps.

"I'm NOT having this conversation with you!" Sam screamed. She changed course, knowing he would follow her to her bedroom, and instead went into the bathroom. She slammed the door and locked it behind her.

Julian banged on the door. "Open the door!"

There was no way Sam was opening the door. She never actually wanted to talk to her dad about sex. What teenager ever wanted to talk to their parents about sex? This was one of many times Sam wished she had a mom. She knew it would still be awkward, but it couldn't possibly be as bad as talking to her dad.

Sam definitely wasn't going to talk to Julian right now. He was being completely unreasonable. One minute, he was angry because she'd only been in town for five weeks. Once she poked a hole in that argument, he was angry because she was fifteen. He obviously didn't want her having sex, and he wasn't going to listen to reason.

Sam was just as angry as he was, though. She couldn't believe he'd accused her of being pregnant. He didn't believe her when she was telling him the truth. He'd never even apologized for wrongly accusing her.

Sam sank down onto the floor. She started crying, her body shaking with silent tears.

"Samantha Baker, open the door right now!" Julian screamed.

"Julian, stop it," Brooke said.

Julian stopped banging on the door and stared at Brooke. "Do you have tools? Maybe I can take the door down."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "You're not taking the door down. I know it's hard for you to accept, but she's growing up."

"She's fifteen," Julian said in an exasperated tone.

"Yeah, and we were both having sex when we were fifteen," Brooke pointed out.

Julian sighed. "I'm sorry I let this overshadow your pregnancy. How are you doing?"

Brooke smiled. "I'm happy. I wasn't trying, but you know I want a baby."

"I like kids," Julian said. He darted a meaningful glance at the door his teenage daughter was hiding behind. "I wish they stayed sweet and innocent."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Brooke offered.

"She won't even talk to me. She's not going to talk to you," Julian said dismissively.

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "She's a teenage girl. You're the last person she wants to talk to about this." She saw a flicker of pain in Julian's eyes.

"She used to tell me everything," Julian said.

Brooke shook her head. "This is different."

Julian nodded dismally. "I know. I'm going to go for a walk."

Brooke waited until Julian left. Then she knocked gently on the door. "Sam, your dad left."

Sam opened the door. Her eyes were red and swollen and her face was streaked with tears. She walked past Brooke and went into her bedroom. Brooke followed her and sat down on the bed beside Sam.

"I DON'T want to talk," Sam said with a tinge of annoyance.

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "You can either talk to me now or your dad later."

Sam sighed. "I'd rather talk to you."

"Was Sean your first?" Brooke asked.

Sam nodded.

"Do you love him?" Brooke asked.

"I don't know," Sam said.

"If you loved him, you would know," Brooke said.

"Is this the part where you tell me I shouldn't have had sex with him?" Sam said with a hint of sarcasm.

"No. I had sex with guys that I didn't love when I was in high school," Brooke said. She saw the look of shock on Sam's face. "For the record, I regret it because you can't take it back."

Sam nodded. "I know."

"Sam?" Brooke looked into Sam's eyes, waiting for Sam to explain what she meant.

Sam hesitated. She didn't know if she could trust Brooke not to repeat every word to her dad. She was surprised at how honest Brooke was being with her. She decided she could trust her.

"I went to Sean's house after I heard my mom talking to my dad. In a way, I knew she never wanted me, but it was different to actually hear her say it. I wasn't good enough for her. Sean wanted me. I was good enough for him. I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn't. I can't take it back, and now he expects me to…" Sam broke off, her voice thick with tears.

Brooke pulled Sam into a hug and rubbed her back comfortingly. It was the first time the teen had actually let Brooke comfort her. "You can't take it back, but you don't have to do anything you don't want to. You can change what you're doing now."

To Sam's surprise, she actually liked talking to Brooke. It was definitely better than talking to her dad. "Thanks, Brooke."

"Don't thank me yet. We're not done. Did you use protection?" Brooke said.

Sam rolled her eyes. "I'm the product of a broken condom. Yeah, I used protection."

"I want to talk to you about my pregnancy," Brooke said. She studied the teen's expression, trying to gauge her reaction.

"It's none of my business," Sam said quickly.

"It is absolutely your business. It's your sister or brother," Brooke said firmly.

"Half sister or brother," Sam corrected.

"Your dad will always be there for you no matter what. This baby won't change his relationship with you," Brooke said.

"OK," Sam mumbled.


	10. Chapter 9

"Julian, why are we here?" Brooke asked as Julian ushered her into her store.

"Because this is where I asked you to design the wardrobe for _Ravens_," Julian said.

"So?" Brooke asked.

"I liked you when I asked you to design the wardrobe," Julian said.

"I thought you were a jerk," Brooke admitted.

"The whole town thought I was a jerk," Julian said with a smirk.

"Yeah, but you showed everyone what a good guy you are," Brooke said with a smile. She pulled Julian closer and kissed him.

"I felt like I already knew you from the book, but you're even more amazing than Lucas wrote you," Julian said.

"Really?" Brooke asked with raised eyebrows and a smirk.

"Really," Julian said with a smile. "I love you, Brooke Davis."

"I love you," Brooke said.

"One week is all it took for me to fall for you. One month and I knew I didn't want to leave you when the movie was over. I've wanted to do this since my dad came. Look, I know it hasn't been that long. I was going to wait, but I want to do this before we go to the doctor because it has nothing to do with your pregnancy." Julian looked into Brooke's eyes as he dropped to one knee. He pulled a velvet jewelry box from his pocket and opened it. "You are the girl I want-pregnant or not. Brooke Davis, will you marry me?"

"Julian, it's been less than two months! We can't get engaged!" Brooke said.

"We can if you say yes," Julian said.

"Julian…"

"Think about it," Julian said. He pushed the jewelry box into Brooke's hand.

An hour later Brooke and Julian were sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. They had an unspoken agreement not to talk about Julian's proposal. Julian knew Brooke needed some time to process everything. He was still a little hurt that she wasn't as sure about their relationship as he was, but he understood his proposal was out of the blue.

"Brooke Davis," the nurse called.

Brooke and Julian rose from their chairs and followed the nurse back to an exam room. Brooke sat down on the exam table. Julian stood beside Brooke and took her hand.

"The doctor will be back in a few minutes," the nurse said before leaving them alone.

"I had a false positive when I was in high school. I went to the doctor to find out if I was pregnant. I was alone, and I was so scared. It's funny. It's only been a few years. Now I'm here with you, and I'm actually kind of excited," Brooke said.

"Me too," Julian said with a smile.

"Were you scared when you found out Caitlin was pregnant?" Brooke asked.

"So scared. And then Caitlin said she wanted to take care of it, and that scared me more than her being pregnant. That's when I knew I already loved my child no matter how scared I was," Julian replied.

The doctor came in. "Hi, Brooke. I'm Dr. Stephens. How are you feeling today?"

"Good," Brooke said with a smile.

"You think you might be pregnant. Have you taken a home pregnancy test?" Dr. Stephens asked.

"Yeah, it was positive," Brooke replied.

"When was your last menstrual cycle?" Dr. Stephens asked.

"About five and a half weeks ago," Brooke replied.

"And you're usually regular?" Dr. Stephens said.

Brooke nodded. "Yeah."

"OK. I'm going to take some blood." Dr. Stephens prepared the needle. Julian held Brooke's hand tightly as the needle pierced her skin. Brooke looked away from the needle. She focused on Julian. His eyes held a certain warmth and gentleness that made Brooke feel at ease.

"We'll call you when we have the results," Dr. Stephens said. He walked them to the door.

"I got this," Julian said. He took a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet to pay the co-pay.

When they got home, Julian knocked on Sam's door.

"Come in," Sam called.

"Hey Sammy. Do you want to go to the beach for the rest of the afternoon? We can go surfing," Julian said.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "They have surfing here?"

Julian shrugged. "It's not like our surfing, but yeah."

"OK," Sam agreed with a smile.

It had been a little while since they'd hung out just the two of them. At home they went surfing together every Sunday morning and then they went to brunch. Julian taught her how to surf when she was just a little girl.

"Is she pregnant?" Sam asked.

"We don't know yet. They're calling with the results," Julian replied.

"Do you want her to be?" Sam asked.

"I love you so much. Every time I see you smile or laugh or learn something new, it makes me so happy. I love being a dad. Yeah, I want another kid. And I want you to have a brother or sister. I always felt alone. My dad was always working-"

"And Grandma was always drunk," Sam commented with a smirk.

"I want you to have a big family. If anything ever happens to me, I don't want you to be alone," Julian continued.

"Dad, don't say that," Sam said. She knew nothing was going to happen to her dad, but she didn't even want to think about what would happen if something did happen to him. It had always been them against the world. She couldn't imagine not having him there.

They drove in silence for a little while until Sam asked another question that had been on her mind. "Did you ask her?" Julian told her that he was going to propose. He wanted to make sure she was OK with it. She still didn't know how she felt about it, but what could she say? She'd learned the hard way that trying to sabotage their relationship didn't work.

"I asked her. She hasn't given me an answer yet," Julian said.

"What did she say?" Sam asked.

Julian hesitated. He didn't want to lie to Sam, but he didn't want to repeat what Brooke had said to him in an intimate moment. "She needs some time to think about it."

"Why? If she loves you, she shouldn't have to think about it," Sam said with a hint of anger.

"Sam, we haven't been together that long. The proposal was out of the blue. She was surprised," Julian said.

"Why are you defending her? You asked her to marry you. You told her you wanted to spend the rest of your life with her. And she didn't say yes," Sam muttered.

Julian sighed. "I know."

Sam saw the pain in her dad's eyes and softened. She knew he had to be hurting. She remembered how hurt he'd been after he broke up with Peyton. "I'm sorry, Dad. Are you OK?"

"Not really," Julian admitted.

"I love you, Dad. I want you to be happy. You deserve to be with someone who knows how lucky they are to have you in their life," Sam said gently.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Julian said with a smile. Sam was probably the only person who could make him smile when he was going crazy wondering if Brooke would say yes.

"Everything," Sam murmured. She didn't intend for Julian to hear, but he did.

"What do you mean?" Julian asked.

"Dad, I wouldn't exist if it weren't for you, and I don't mean in the normal I'm comprised of half your gene pool way. Mom would have aborted me if it weren't for you. I literally wouldn't exist. You made everything OK for me then, and you make everything OK for me now. You're always there for me. You do everything for me," Sam said.

Julian frowned at the reference to Caitlin. It was one of very few times Sam had brought her up since Caitlin showed up. The frown was quickly replaced with a smile when he heard the rest of Sam's explanation. He stroked his daughter's hair and put his arm around her shoulders.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with light fun. Neither of them broached the subject of the proposal again. They joked around and surfed.

When they got home, Sam went into the bathroom to take a shower. Julian went into Brooke's bedroom. She was sitting on the bed with a magazine open, but she wasn't reading it. She'd just gotten off the phone with the doctor. She looked up at Julian with a smile on her face. "I'm pregnant. I'm going to be a mom."

Julian broke into a smile. He sat down beside her and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy. Are you happy?"

Brooke nodded. "I've never wanted anything more."

"You're going to be a great mom," Julian said.

"You already are a great dad," Brooke said with a smile.

"Speaking of Sam, I want to go tell her the good news," Julian said.

Julian knocked on Sam's door.

"Come in," Sam called.

She frowned when she saw that her dad was with Brooke. She saw the smiles on their faces and knew Brooke was pregnant. Julian looked into her eyes and told her what she already knew. "Brooke's pregnant."

Sam forced herself to smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "That's really…great." Her eyes focused on Brooke's left hand. Brooke wasn't wearing the engagement ring. The forced smile faded. "Look, I'm tired from surfing, so I think I'm going to take a nap."

Julian and Brooke left. Sam flopped down on her bed. She didn't know what she was feeling. She didn't know if she wanted her dad to marry Brooke. Nonetheless, she was filled with anger that Brooke hadn't said yes to Julian's proposal. Her dad was hurting now, and Brooke was the one who had hurt him. He'd been so good to her. Sam couldn't believe how badly she was treating her dad.

Brooke and Julian sat down on the couch. Julian pulled Brooke into his lap. His hands instinctively went to her stomach. His baby was growing inside of her.

"Do you think she's going to be OK?" Brooke asked.

"She? What makes you think it's going to be a girl?" Julian asked.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Not the baby. Sam, you knucklehead."

Julian frowned in confusion. "Sam? Yeah."

"Julian, I don't think she's happy about this," Brooke said.

"I talked to her about it. She's fine," Julian insisted.

"What did she say?" Brooke asked.

Julian frowned as he tried to remember. "Well, she asked me if I wanted you to be pregnant, and I said yes."

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "And?"

"And she was fine with it," Julian said.


	11. Chapter 10

Brooke, Julian and Sam were sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Do you want to help me in the store today?" Brooke asked.

"No," Sam replied.

Brooke was surprised by Sam's blunt response. Sam usually helped whenever Brooke asked. "Please? I have a new shipment coming in this morning and Millicent's in Omaha visiting Mouth."

"You can't lift boxes!" Julian said quickly. He looked at Sam. "You're going to help her."

"I already have plans," Sam said with a hint of anger.

"What are you doing?" Julian asked.

"Hanging out with Sean," Sam replied.

Julian frowned. Sean was still a sore point with him. "Well, you can hang out with him after you help Brooke."

"Fine," Sam muttered.

When they got to the store, Brooke sat down at her desk to work on sketches. "The shipment won't get here until around ten. You can go get coffee if you want." Brooke held a twenty-dollar bill out for Sam, hoping the teen would cheer up once she had her caffeine fix.

"I have money," Sam said in a hostile tone.

"This is on me. It's the least I can do since you're helping me," Brooke said.

"Whatever," Sam muttered. She took the twenty and disappeared out the door. She didn't return until ten. She didn't want to spend any longer than she absolutely had to with Brooke. She was having a hard time being in the same room with her and not going off on her for hurting Julian.

"There you are. I thought you'd been kidnapped," Brooke joked. The teen had been gone for over an hour.

"You should be so lucky," Sam muttered under her breath.

"The shipment just got here. Just price the new clothes and sensor them. Then I'll show you where to put them," Brooke said.

Sam went to the storeroom without a word. She brought the new clothes out to the register and started working in silence.

"Thanks again for helping me," Brooke tried again.

"I didn't have a choice," Sam said with a hint of anger.

"What are you and Sean doing today?" Brooke asked.

Sam shrugged. Sean had just been an excuse to get out of spending the day with Brooke. "Just hanging out."

"Are you still having sex with him?" Brooke asked.

"That's really none of your business," Sam said. She saw a flicker of hurt in Brooke's eyes.

"You can talk to me about anything," Brooke said quietly.

"You're the last person I'd want to talk to about boys," Sam muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brooke asked.

"What do you think it means?" Sam retorted.

Brooke stared at the teen. She hadn't seen this side of Sam in a long time. She didn't understand why Sam was being like this again. Brooke's patience was wearing thin, though. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Sam snapped.

"Well, did I do something to offend you?" Brooke asked.

Sam shrugged.

"OK, Sam, I have no idea how you feel about me being pregnant, but I know you're not happy," Brooke said.

Sam shook her head. "That's not it."

Brooke looked into Sam's eyes. "OK, well then tell me what it is." Her voice was firm.

Sam's eyes filled with anger. She stared at Brooke, all of her anger directed at Brooke. "Why isn't he good enough? Why don't you want him?"

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asked.

"My dad," Sam spat out. "How many men are there in your life?"

Brooke took a deep breath. She tried to remain calm. She pushed her own anger and confusion beneath the surface. "Sam, I do want to be with your dad. I love him very much."

"Then why didn't you say yes?" Sam cried out.

Brooke stared at Sam in disbelief. "Your dad told you he proposed?" That explained a lot. But why would he do that when he didn't know what Brooke's answer was? Sam had finally warmed up to her, and now they were back to square one.

"Actually he told me before he proposed. He didn't know you wouldn't say yes," Sam said with venom in her voice.

Brooke sighed. "It's complicated."

"No, it's not! You said that if I was in love with Sean, I'd know. Are you in love with my dad?" Sam demanded.

"Yes, but your love is different. You're in high school. If you were older, you'd understand," Brooke said.

"No, I would never understand how you can say you love him and treat him like this. He deserves better," Sam said with a hint of anger.

Brooke stormed into Julian's office. "Julian, why the hell did you tell Sam you proposed?"

"Uh, because she's my daughter, and I wanted to make sure she was OK with it," Julian said.

"What if she wasn't OK with it?" Brooke asked.

"She was," Julian replied.

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "But what if she wasn't?"

"I don't know. I would give her some time to deal with it. She wouldn't stop me from being with you, but I wouldn't want to rush into anything she was really uncomfortable with," Julian said.

"Well, now she's pissed because I didn't say yes," Brooke snapped.

"Wait, what did she say?" Julian asked.

"She's been moping around the store all day pouting. I asked her what was wrong. She asked why I didn't say yes and then she said you deserve better," Brooke muttered.

"I'm sorry. She shouldn't have said that. I'll talk to her," Julian said.

"You can't fix this! Don't you get it?" Brooke yelled. She took a deep breath to calm down. Her voice was calm when she continued. "Now we're right back where we started. She hates me."

"Hey." Sam grinned when her dad walked into the house.

"What did you say to Brooke today?" Julian asked.

Sam's grin vanished. "I didn't mean to say anything. She just wouldn't leave me alone! She asked me what was the matter with me. I told her it was nothing. Then she said she knew I wasn't happy that she was pregnant-"

"Is that true?" Julian interrupted.

"No!" Sam said quickly. She knew how much it would hurt her dad if he thought she didn't want him to have another child. "She doesn't know what she's talking about!"

"Sam, you asked me if I wanted Brooke to be pregnant, but I didn't ask you what you wanted," Julian said.

"I want you to be happy," Sam said sincerely.

Julian smiled. "I know. But we're not talking about me. We're talking about you. What do you want?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. It's not the baby I have a problem with. It's just…everything is going to change."

"Nothing's going to change. You're still my daughter, and I will always be here for you," Julian said.

"I know that. But things _are_ going to change. How about where we live? Are we going home? Or are we going to stay here?" Sam said.

"I don't know, Sammy," Julian said. Any anger he'd felt when Brooke told him what Sam said disappeared. Now he just felt bad for his daughter. He could tell she'd been bottling her feelings up for his sake. "What did you say to Brooke about the proposal?"

"I said it wasn't that she was pregnant. It was that she didn't want you. You weren't good enough for her. I asked why she didn't say yes. She gave me some lame excuse about it being complicated and told me I didn't understand because I'm in high school," Sam said with a hint of anger.

"Did you say I deserve better?" Julian asked.

"Well, yeah. She said I'd understand if I was older. I said I would never understand how she can say she loves you and treat you this badly. You _do_ deserve better," Sam replied.

"I love that you tried to stand up for me. You're a good kid. But Brooke is as good as it gets for me. I don't want better. I want her," Julian said.

"What if she doesn't want you?" Sam asked in a barely audible whisper.

"You can't lock your heart away because you're too scared someone will break it. It hurts when your heart gets broken, but it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," Julian said.

"I don't know if I can be nice to her if she's hurting you," Sam said.

"Be nice to her because she makes me happy," Julian said.

Julian went to get take-out food, leaving Brooke and Sam alone in the house. Sam emerged from her room and sat down on the couch beside Brooke. Brooke looked up from her sketchpad.

"I won't apologize for saying he deserves better. He does. But he doesn't want better. He wants you. Look, if you didn't say yes because of me-"

"It's NOT because of you!" Brooke interrupted. She didn't want Sam to think for one second that she had anything to do with Brooke's hesitance.

"If I'm part of the reason, I just wanted you to know that I'm leaving," Sam continued. No matter what Brooke said, Sam thought she was at least partially to blame. She'd tried to break Brooke and Julian up. She hadn't been very nice to Brooke. She wouldn't blame Brooke for not wanting her as a stepdaughter. That had after all been her goal at one point. Sam would feel terrible if she was the reason her dad couldn't be happy.

"What?" Brooke asked. Confusion was evident on her face. She had no idea what Sam meant.

"School starts soon. I'm going back to LA. I think my dad's going to stay here," Sam explained. Julian told her he didn't know what they were doing, but Sam knew deep down that her dad wouldn't leave when Brooke was pregnant. He was too good a guy to do that.

"Have you told your dad this?" Brooke asked. She knew how much Sam meant to Julian. She didn't think he would want Sam in LA while he was in Tree Hill.

"No, but I'm going to," Sam replied. "That's not the point. The point is you and him can be a family with your baby."

Brooke looked into Sam's eyes. "Samantha, you are part of this family. Your dad loves you very much. I'm here for you, too. And this baby is going to be your brother or sister."

"OK," Sam mumbled.


	12. Chapter 11

Brooke walked into Lucas' house without knocking. She went into the bedroom, where Peyton was lying in the bed she'd been spending pretty much twenty-four hours a day in since the doctor told her to take it easy and Lucas decided that meant bed rest. Haley was already in the room visiting Peyton.

"Hey guys. What are you doing?" Brooke said.

"Nothing. Just going crazy," Peyton said with a smirk. She'd been complaining about being stuck in the house non-stop.

"I brought Peyton the latest issue of B Davis magazine and Mia's new track," Haley explained.

"Did you bring me gossip from the outside world?" Peyton asked hopefully.

"I'm sure Lucas told you all about the movie. Bitchtoria is still trying to convince our shareholders that my company would be better off without me," Brooke said.

"It's your company," Haley said.

"I know," Brooke said emphatically. "But she said she's the one who spins the straw into gold. Apparently she thinks she can have B Davis magazine without B Davis."

"No!" Peyton said.

"I'm not surprised. It is my mother we're talking about," Brooke muttered.

"How are things going with Julian?" Haley asked to change the subject to less hostile territory.

"Yeah, are things going better with Sam?" Peyton added.

"Well, they were for about ten seconds and then Julian told her he was going to propose and I didn't say yes, so now she's back to hating me," Brooke said.

"What? He proposed?" Peyton exclaimed.

"Hasn't it only been like two months?" Haley pointed out.

"Thank you. That's what I said," Brooke said, grateful that someone could see why she wouldn't want to rush into marriage after two months.

"What is wrong with him? Is he scared that he's going to lose you when he goes back to LA?" Peyton asked, trying to think of any reason he would pop the question so soon.

Brooke hesitated. She hadn't planned to tell people yet, but she knew Peyton and Haley would keep asking questions until they had a reasonable explanation. Plus she wanted Peyton's advice on how to handle Sam. "Actually I'm pregnant."

"Congratulations," Haley said with a smile.

Peyton squealed. "We're pregnant together! Our babies are going to be best friends!"

"Totally," Brooke agreed. "But what should I do about the baby daddy?"

"I think you should say yes. He makes you happy, and you deserve to be happy," Peyton said.

Brooke nodded. She'd been leaning towards saying yes, too. She knew she loved Julian, and she wanted her baby to have a family. "Even though his daughter likes me about as much as I like Victoria?" She asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"If she's mad that you didn't say yes, she'll get over it when you _do_ say yes," Peyton said.

"Yeah, if you got through to her once, you'll be able to do it again, Brooke," Haley added.

"I don't know about that. She wants to leave. She wants to go back to LA while Julian and I stay here," Brooke said.

"There's no way Julian will let her do that," Peyton said.

Back at Brooke's house, Sam took the first opportunity she'd had alone with Julian to find out if he would let her go back to LA. She didn't want Brooke around to take his side. She knew he wouldn't want her to leave, and any negative influence could be disastrous.

"I have school and cheerleading practice soon. I have to go back to LA," Sam said.

Julian nodded. He knew school started soon. He'd been thinking about where they would live since Sam asked him the other night. "It's going to be at least a month until I wrap production. Brooke's pregnant and her doctors are here. How would you feel if we stayed?"

"I don't want to stay here. My life is in LA. All my friends are in LA," Sam replied.

"You'll make new friends," Julian said.

Her dad didn't even seem to be thinking about letting her leave. Sam knew she needed to do something. She knew better than anyone what buttons to push to get her way with Julian. Getting angry would only make him more determined not to let her leave. Her only hope was a guilt trip that would make him feel so bad he wouldn't be able to tell her no. She looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "Dad, I've gone wherever you were filming for fifteen years and I've never complained. I didn't even complain when I was home-schooled for three months because you were working on that film in Paris. I don't want to leave my school and my friends. I can understand if you want to stay here, but I don't. Please try to understand that."

"You're fifteen years old. You can't stay by yourself," Julian said uncertainly. Sam could see in his eyes that he felt bad. He didn't want to disappoint her.

"I have before. You've left me alone when you were going on short business trips. And I won't really be alone. I'll have Granddad if I need anything," Sam pointed out.

Julian finally relented. "OK."

"You're the best! I love you!" Sam said with a smile. She gave her dad a big hug.

Julian smiled sadly and kissed the top of her head. He was losing his little girl. He knew it was hard on her to keep moving her all over the place because of his job, but he would miss her terribly if she was all the way across the country.

Brooke walked into her house with a smile on her face. She felt much better after talking to her friends. She was going to say yes. She was finally going to have the family she'd always wanted.

"Hey. I told Peyton and Haley that I'm pregnant," Brooke said. Her smile grew even wider when she mentioned her pregnancy.

Julian looked up in surprise. "I thought you wanted to wait."

"I did, but I've never been good at keeping secrets," Brooke said.

"Especially when they're about pregnancy. Didn't you tell everyone when Haley was pregnant?" Julian said with a smirk.

"Only because everyone thought I was the one who was pregnant," Brooke said defensively.

"It's always the quiet ones. Haley was the valedictorian and I was a mathlete," Julian commented.

"Trust me, it was much easier for everyone to believe I was pregnant," Brooke said.

"They didn't know the real Brooke Davis," Julian said.

"I was pretty slutty," Brooke admitted.

Julian looked into Brooke's eyes. "You were also a good friend to Haley. You let people think you were pregnant. You're so selfless. You're going to be a great mom."

"I love you so much," Brooke said with a smile. "And I've been thinking. My answer is yes."

It took Julian several seconds to figure out what Brooke was saying yes to. His eyes widened in surprised and then he lit up. "You're saying yes?" He asked just to make sure, as though it was too good to be true.

Brooke laughed. "Yes. I love you. I want to be with you, and I want to give our baby a family."

Julian pulled Brooke into a tight embrace. "I love you, Brooke Davis."

"Where's Sam? We can tell her, so she can go back to being nice to me," Brooke said.

Julian's face fell. "She's not here. She went out to dinner with Sean."

"That's okay. We can tell her later," Brooke said, but Julian still looked sad. "Is something else wrong?"

"She's leaving on Friday. School starts next week," Julian explained.

"We do have schools here, you know," Brooke said with a smirk.

"I know, but she doesn't want to stay," Julian said.

"I know how she feels. My parents moved to LA when I was in high school. I moved in with Lucas' mom because I didn't want to leave Tree Hill," Brooke said. She hesitated, unsure if it was her place to comment further. "But my parents were gone before they ever left. They were never there for me."

Julian nodded. "Yeah, mine either. I don't want to repeat the same mistakes our parents did. But I've moved Sam all over the place because of my job. This is the first time she's asked me not to move her."

Brooke frowned. She couldn't help but think this time had more to do with her and the pregnancy than moving to Tree Hill.


	13. Chapter 12

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm not sure if it's legal to leave a teen on their own, but I know parents who do when they're traveling for work and Brooke lived in an apartment by herself before she was 18 on the show. I doubt Social Services would know unless something happened to the teen while they were alone. Julian didn't want to let her live on her own, but he felt really bad about making her move for her job so much and she knew exactly what buttons to push to make him feel guilty. I'm not going to have Sam in LA for long, but I have a reason for wanting her there. **

Sam's door was open. Brooke could see her packing. She walked in without knocking and sat down on the bed beside the open suitcase. "Hey. Can I talk to you?"

"It's a free country," Sam said sarcastically.

Brooke ignored the sarcasm. She looked into the teen's eyes. "Samantha, I meant what I said. You are a part of this family. I don't want you to leave. You know your dad doesn't want you to leave."

"This isn't my home. My life is in LA. All my friends are in LA," Sam said as she continued to put clothes in her suitcase.

"What about Sean?" Brooke asked.

"Like you said, if I loved him, I'd know. I don't love him," Sam said.

Brooke tried a different tact. "I know how you feel. My parents moved to LA when I was in high school. I didn't want to leave Tree Hill, so I moved in with Lucas' mom. I hated being alone. It would have been nice to have a family to talk to."

"There's this new invention." Sam held up her cell phone. "You can talk to anyone anywhere anytime you want to."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "It's different, and you know it."

"I thought you'd be happy," Sam said with raised eyebrows.

"What part of this is supposed to make me happy? You were angry with me for not saying yes because it hurt your dad. Now you're the one hurting him," Brooke said in an accusatory tone.

"Look, this is really none of your business, OK? It's between my dad and me," Sam said with a hint of anger.

"That's where you're wrong. This is absolutely my business because your dad is my fiancé. I'm not going to sit back and say nothing when you're hurting him," Brooke said.

"So it's OK for you to hurt him, but not me?" Sam demanded.

"I don't ever want to see him hurt by anyone," Brooke said through gritted teeth. Sometimes Sam made it very difficult for Brooke to talk to her without throttling her. Brooke knew she'd need to learn how to be more patient before she had the baby.

"Neither do I. Be good to him," Sam said.

"Hey, Sammy. Are you ready?" Julian asked as he poked his head in the door. "We should leave soon."

"Yeah," Sam replied. She zipped her suitcase up and set it upright on the floor.

Julian picked the suitcase up. It made it feel more real. His little girl was leaving today. "Are you sure about this?"

Sam nodded.

At the door, Brooke pulled Sam in for a hug. Sam stiffened. She was still angry.

Julian loaded Sam's suitcase in to the trunk and they got in the car.

"I had Maria fill the refrigerator with groceries. Granddad will pick you up from the airport. Did you talk to Alison about driving you to school?" Julian said. He still hated the idea of his fifteen year old daughter being on her own. He wanted to make sure she had everything she could possibly need.

"Yeah. Everything's going to be OK, Dad," Sam said with a smile.

"If you need anything, you can call Granddad. You know you can always call me, too. No matter what time it is. If you need me, I'll get on the first flight out," Julian said.

Sam smiled. "I know."

"It'll only be a month. I'll come for your birthday," Julian promised.

Sam gave Julian a big hug. "I love you. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you more," Julian commented. He kissed the top of Sam's head.

Brooke knew Julian would be sad when he got home. She wanted to cheer him up. She started making dinner.

Julian walked into Brooke's house. "It smells good. But you know, you don't have to get take-out and put it in the oven so I'll think you can cook. I love you just the way you are. I knew you couldn't cook when I proposed."

Brooke glared at him. "I can cook."

"Yeah, I just don't know if anything you cook will be edible," Julian said with a smirk. He noticed the glass of wine sitting on the breakfast bar and frowned. "You do know you can't drink when you're pregnant?"

"The wine is for you, Smartass," Brooke retorted.

"In that case, thank you." Julian took a sip of the wine. He took a bite of the chicken breast Brooke served. "Not bad. There's hope for you yet."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Brooke said with a smirk.

Brooke picked up their empty plates and went into the kitchen.

"Where I come from, the cook doesn't do the dishes," Julian said.

"Don't you want dessert?" Brooke asked.

"You made dessert, too? You're like the new Julia Childs," Julian said with a smirk.

Brooke smiled flirtatiously. "Not exactly." She took a can of whipped cream from the refrigerator and walked toward the bedroom. She glanced back at Julian. "Dessert is in the bedroom." She winked.

"I didn't like Varsity Blues, but I'm a big fan of the whipped cream bikini," Julian said as he followed Brooke to the bedroom. He stopped in the doorway and stared. Brooke had already stripped and covered strategic parts of her body with whipped cream.

"You mean kind of like the one I'm wearing right now?" Brooke asked with a smirk.

Julian nodded. He shed his own clothes as he made his way to the bed. He ran his hands down the length of her body. He kissed her greedily. He kissed a trail down her neck. Then he worked his way down her body, paying special attention to the areas covered with whipped cream.

"I'm kind of surprised you're not scared to ruin your bedspread," Julian teased.

"I won't because you're going to get every last bit of whipped cream off of me," Brooke said.

Every once in a while, he stopped what he was doing and kissed her. She could taste the sweetness of the whipped cream. By the time there was no whipped cream left, she was waiting in anticipation for him to enter her.

"I like it when you make dessert," Julian said with a grin.

The sex was good. So good it left them both wanting more. Brooke felt sticky from the whipped cream. "I'm going to go take a shower. You wouldn't want to join me, would you?"

After the second time, they were both worn out. They went to bed. Brooke lay in Julian's arms, resting her head on his shoulder. "You miss her already, don't you?" She asked.

"We wouldn't have been able to have dessert if she was here," Julian said with a smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh, really? How did I get pregnant then?" Brooke said with a hint of sarcasm.

Julian sighed. "Yeah. I already miss her and it hasn't even been a day. A week is the longest she's ever been away from me. I don't know how I'm going to do this."

"You don't have to do this. Sam is fifteen years old. You are the parent. You need to do what's best for her whether or not she sees that," Brooke said.

"What do you think I should do?" Julian asked.

"I think she needs a stable home with her dad," Brooke replied.

"I should never have let her leave," Julian said quietly.

"There are a lot of regrets that you can't take back, but this isn't one of them," Brooke said gently.

"You're smart, Brooke Davis. I'm going to go to LA tomorrow. I can put the house on the market, pack and then Sam and I can come home," Julian said.

"I'll come with you. I can help," Brooke offered.

"You shouldn't be traveling. You're pregnant," Julian said dismissively.

"Julian, I've only been pregnant for like a week. It's not like I'm not going to go into labor on the plane," Brooke said with a hint of sarcasm.


	14. Chapter 13

**Thanks for the reviews! :) So this chapter is what happened when Sam landed in LA. It's her Friday night. The last chapter was Julian and Brooke's Friday night. I hope this chapter isn't too boring. Sam's the only "main" character in it. Brooke and Julian will show up in the next chapter. I probably won't be updating this week. I have finals. As soon as I'm done, I'll update all of my stories. I'll put some spoilers for Sisters and Crash Into Me at the end in bold if you're interested. If you like those stories and don't want to be spoiled, stop reading when you see the bold. **

"Granddad!" Sam threw her arms around Paul.

"It's good to see you." Sam released Paul and he gave her a once-over. "You look happy."

"It's good to be home," Sam said with a smile. She meant it. She'd missed her friends and her life. Everything was easier in LA.

"It's good to have you home." Paul put Sam's suitcase in the trunk. "Do you want to drive?"

"Really?" Sam squealed.

Paul nodded. He threw her the car keys. She caught them easily. "Nice catch. Your dad was never very good at sports."

"No bashing Dad," Sam warned.

"How's the film?" Paul asked.

"Dad still has at least a month left before they wrap production. I saw what they have so far. It's good," Sam replied.

"Is he still seeing Brooke?" Paul asked.

Sam smirked. Her dad obviously hadn't shared the good news with her granddad. "Yeah."

"Well, he has a month until they wrap and he comes back to LA," Paul said.

Sam knew better, but she didn't say anything.

"How's Peyton?" Paul asked.

"She's pregnant," Sam said with a frown.

"Good. She looked happy with Lucas," Paul said.

Sam put the car in park in front of her house. Paul carried her suitcase to the door. "Do you need anything?" He asked.

"No. I'm good," Sam replied.

"If you do, I'm here. I love you," Paul said with a smile.

"Love you, too," Sam said.

Sam walked into her house. It felt weird to be home after so long. The house was dark. Sam switched the lights on. Their housekeeper, Maria had cleaned, so the usual clutter that made it look lived in was gone. There were no clothes or schoolbooks lying around.

The house had open windows overlooking the ocean. Even though Julian had decorated alone, the house didn't have a bachelor pad feel at all. It had a lot of photographs and knickknacks to make it feel homey.

Sam called her friend, Courtney. Courtney was a senior and captain of the cheerleading squad. She'd taken Sam under her wing and become like a big sister to Sam.

"Sam! Are you home?" Courtney said in an excited tone.

"Yeah. What are you doing tonight?" Sam asked.

"No one's going out. There aren't any parties. But we should hang out. I'll come get you," Courtney said.

Courtney pulled up to Sam's house and honked twice. She drove a cherry red BMW convertible. Her dad owned a hotel chain. He was loaded and he gave Courtney everything she wanted.

Sam jumped in the car and gave Courtney a quick hug.

"Oh my gosh! It's so good to see you. I haven't seen you in forever!" Courtney gushed.

"I know. It's good to see you, too," Sam said.

"I can't believe your dad is letting you stay here alone," Courtney said.

"Your dad leaves you alone all the time," Sam pointed out.

"Not anymore. I've had a babysitter since my DUI," Courtney said.

"A babysitter? What do you mean?" Sam asked with a smirk.

"Well, technically she's a live-in maid, but I learned the hard way that she's actually there to babysit me. She totally ratted me out when I had a party," Courtney explained.

"He's just worried about you," Sam said.

"No, you're thinking of your dad. The only thing my dad is worried about is the bad publicity he gets when I screw up. He didn't even answer the phone when I called him to come get me from jail. But he did answer when his publicist called to tell him my mug shot was on all the blogs," Courtney said.

"At least you looked hot in your mug shot," Sam commented.

"I know, right? Anyway, it's good that your dad's not here. We can party at your place now that I have a babysitter at mine. Speaking of which, I may have already told everyone you're having a party tomorrow," Courtney said.

"I don't know. My dad will kill me if he finds out," Sam said.

"How would he find out?" Courtney asked.

"OK I guess," Sam said.

"I saw a picture of your dad and Brooke Davis in a magazine. Are they together?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"I thought he didn't date younger girls," Courtney muttered.

Sam laughed. She knew Courtney had a crush on her dad. "No, he just won't date you because you're young enough to be his daughter."

"That's never stopped my dad," Courtney said. She pulled her car into the garage of a mansion. Sam helped her get some shopping bags out of the backseat. They carried the bags into the house and set them on the kitchen table. They sat down at the table to talk.

"Courtney, is that you?" Courtney's dad called. He came into the kitchen. He'd aged well. His hair was grey, but he was in good shape. He was wearing an expensive charcoal suit that was perfectly tailored. He had a girl on his arm. The girl was closer to Courtney's age than her dad's age. She was pretty, but she'd worked hard to be pretty. Her hair was platinum blonde. Her skin was unnaturally tan. She was wearing a lot of make-up.

"Hi Daddy," Courtney said with a smile.

Her dad held up a finger, signaling for her to be quiet. He started talking about a business deal.

"Who is he talking to?" Sam asked.

"He's talking on his headset," Courtney explained.

Her dad left the room to finish his call. His girlfriend looked unsure if she should follow him. Instead, she walked over to the table. "Hi. I'm Stacy."

"Hi," Courtney said.

Stacy was eyeing the shopping bags with interest. She saw a bag from Prada. "Is that the new Prada bag?" She took the purse out of the shopping bag to admire it.

Courtney grabbed it out of her hands. "Don't touch that. I don't share with my dad's girlfriends."

Stacy ignored her and continued sifting through the shopping bags, admiring Courtney's purchases.

"OK, maybe the hair dye is seeping into your brain. These…" Courtney waved her hand, indicating the shopping bags. "Are mine. _Not_ yours. Get your own. Oh, wait a minute…you can't. That's why you're with someone over twice your age, Gold Digger. Until your last name is Albertson, you don't get one of these." Courtney held up her black American Express.

"Hey Baby, can you come here for a minute?" Courtney's dad called from the other room.

Stacy looked at Courtney. "Is he talking to me or you?"

Courtney pointed at Stacy. "It's not a term of endearment. He probably can't remember your name."

Sam smirked. "You're so bad. I think you made her cry."

"It couldn't be any more obvious that she's only interested in my dad for his money. At least you don't have to worry about that with Brooke," Courtney muttered.

"No, she's got her own money," Sam said.

"Although she's still closer to your age than your dad's," Courtney pointed out.

Brooke's age had been the least of Sam's concerns, but she realized Courtney was right. "Your dad's been married like five times, right?"

"Um, let's see. There was Lauren, Julie, Holly and Kristin." Courtney tallied them with her fingers. "Nope, just four."

"You forgot your mom," Sam said quietly.

"Oh yeah," Courtney murmured.

"When he gets married does everything change?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"Like does he spend less time with you?" Sam explained.

Courtney laughed. "No. Married or single, my dad never spends time with me."

"He's here now," Sam said.

"Yeah, and he's on the phone," Courtney pointed out.

"Trust me, it could be worse," Sam said.

"True. We could be poor," Courtney said with a smile.

"That's not what I meant. My mom lives in North Carolina. She makes your dad look like Father of the Year," Sam said.

"Oh my gosh. Did you talk to her? What did she say? Do I need to fly out there and kick her ass?" Courtney asked.

"What question do you want me to answer first?" Sam smirked. "No, I didn't talk to her. I heard her talking to my dad. Cliff's Notes version is that she said she wanted to abort me and that she doesn't want to be in my life now."

"Oh, Sam, I'm sorry. I'm totally going to kick her ass. Do you think I can take her?" Courtney said.

"I've really missed you," Sam said.

Courtney's dad returned to the kitchen. "Stacy and I are going to the beach house. Do you need money for dinner?"

"No. I have money," Courtney replied.

"Try not to get arrested," her dad said. That was the only goodbye she received.

Sam laughed.

"I swear the only way to get his attention is to get arrested. He's said more to me about the DUI than he's said to me in the last seventeen years. I know exactly how many points his stock went down because of the bad publicity," Courtney said.

**In Sisters, Alex is going to be Haley's student teacher and she's going to realize there's something going on between them and then Victoria is going to make an appearance**

**In Crash Into Me, Sam's dad is going to kidnap Seth to try to get money**


End file.
